House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., endorsed Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., in his primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and it had Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., firing shots at the party on Twitter.
AOC is backing Markey, setting up a veritable battle between the House speaker and the new-wave squad leader.
AOC tweeted:
"No one gets to complain about primary challenges again. So @dccc, when can we expect you to reverse your blacklist policy against primary orgs? Because between this & lack of care around @IlhanMN's challenger, it seems like less a policy and more a cherry-picking activity."
AOC added in an ensuing tweet:
"Ilhan's multimillion challenge was bankrolled by DC lobbyists & dark money groups. He blatantly admitted to using shell corporations to get around the DCCC blacklist, which all but means his vendors work w/ the Democratic Party. Yet DCCC hasn't enforced policy. I wonder why."
Pelosi's announcement came in a video posted on Kennedy's Twitter account Thursday.
"Never before have the times demanded we elect courageous leaders as today," Pelosi said. "And that is why I am proud to endorse Joe Kennedy for Senate. In 2018, when we took back the House, Joe campaigned across America to make that victory possible. He knows that to achieve progressive change, you must be on the front lines leading movements of people. Massachusetts and America need Joe Kennedy's courage and leadership in the Senate to fight for the change we need."
Kennedy responded by tweeting:
"Nancy Pelosi is a force. No one has done more to take on Donald Trump and build our Party's future. Proud and humbled to have her with me in this fight."
The Hill noted Pelosi served with Kennedy in the House since 2013. She also served with Markey in the House from 1987 to 2013.
The Senate primary is Sept. 1.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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