Rep.-elect Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said she and an informal group of fellow Republican freshmen in the House are ready and eager to take on Rep. Alexandria "AOC" Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and the self-styled socialist colleagues known as "The Squad."
"We don't have a name yet, but we sat down during the orientation [for freshman Republicans in the House], and it was just a natural alliance for me," Malliotakis told Newsmax on Saturday. "We were all – like me — the children of immigrants or people who emigrated here themselves."
Malliotakis, whose father is Greek and mother is Cuban, added the group "quickly found out we shared the same goals — namely to preserve freedom, our basic liberties and the American dream and to stop socialism."
Along with Malliotakis, others in the fledgling group include Reps.-elect Michelle Park Steel, R-Calif., and Young Kim, R-Calif., both born and raised in Seoul, South Korea; Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., a product of Ukraine who came to the U.S. at 21; Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., whose father is Iranian; Maria Salazar, R-Fla., daughter of Cuban immigrants, and Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., who emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba.
The experiences of this group, she added, "need be shared with young people across America, too many of whom think socialism is grand. It isn't what 'the Squad' is peddling. It destroys the American dream."
As for AOC and the other three Democratic congresswomen in "The Squad," Staten Island Republican Malliotakis said, "The 'Socialist Squad' — that's what I call it — has gone unchecked. But now, our group is in Congress and that means someone will hold them accountable."
We asked about AOC's recent threat to target and defeat Trump supporters in Congress, Malliotakis — who proudly backed the president throughout her own campaign — simply laughed and replied: "Bring it on!"
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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