Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) has endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) for president, splitting from her fellow far-left "Squad" members.
"The American people deserve to be represented by elected officials who see them, who listen to them, and who fight for them," Pressley said in her endorsement video. "This election is a fight for the very soul of our nation. Elizabeth knows how to fight and she knows how to win."
Big structural change can’t wait. pic.twitter.com/8Sanof9COD
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) November 6, 2019
The other three members of the "Squad" are backing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) appeared with Sanders at a rally in New York in October. The freshman congresswoman credited the socialist senator with inspiring her to run for public office.
"It wasn't until I heard of a man by the name of Bernie Sanders that I began to question and assert and recognize my inherent value as a human being that deserves health care, housing, education, and a living wage," she said at the rally.
The dueling endorsements do not appear to have caused a rift in the tight-knit "Squad." Ocasio-Cortez responded to Pressley's endorsement on Twitter with a heart emoji.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) appeared with Sanders at a rally in Detroit where she praised the Vermont socialist as someone who would not "back down" from taking on wealthy interests. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) also touted Sanders's drive to "fight against western imperialism" during her appearance at a rally.
All four congresswomen won their seats in 2018 with the help of Justice Democrats, a political action committee founded by former Sanders staffers and far-left activists in the wake of the 2016 election. The group describes itself as a grassroots movement, but a Washington Free Beacon investigation found that several Justice Democrats-backed candidates rely overwhelmingly on out-of-state donors.
The Warren endorsement is also not the first time Pressley has distinguished herself from the rest of the group. In July, she voted for a resolution that opposed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel. Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib all voted against the resolution.
Pressley has also disputed the notion that the quartet votes as a "monolith." She told Boston.com that while she feels a special "kinship" with the other three lawmakers, they "don't land in the same place on every vote."