Two Florida Republicans set to arrive on Capitol Hill in January already have a goal in mind: start a rival group to counter the "Squad" of liberal freshman lawmakers who took Washington, D.C., by storm two years ago.
Carlos Gimenez, the former Miami-Dade County mayor, and Maria Elvira Salazar, an ex-TV journalist, who both won their House races earlier this month, explained to the Miami Herald that they want to start a "Freedom Squad" to fight the far-left wing of the Democratic Party.
"I’m not here to battle every Democrat. I am here to battle [the Squad]. I will do that with my last breath," Gimenez said, citing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as one of his motivations to first run for office. Rounding out the original squad are Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The Freedom Squad will consist of Republicans who managed to flip seats held by Democratic incumbents or held on to their own competitive seats in the general election.
In addition to Gimenez and Salazar, who both have Cuban roots, the group has attracted the interest of congresswoman-elect Nicole Malliotakis, whose mother was born in Cuba, and Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who grew up in the Soviet Union before Ukraine became an independent nation.
read more here: Meet the 'Freedom Squad': The Republican answer to AOC's left-wing 'Squad' (washingtonexaminer.com)
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