It sounds straight out of a Monday night wrestling telecast. Rep.-Elect Byron Donalds (R-FL) plans to lead an electric "Freedom Force" along with other newly elected Republican representatives to oppose the far-left 'squad' led by New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "Americans just want opportunities to succeed," Donalds said in a Fox News segment. "If you really look at these elections, what is clear that Americans just want to be left alone." Donalds represents a GOP incoming class that saw double-digit gains. The Freedom Force includes Rep-elects Young Kim and Michelle Steele (California), Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar (Florida), Victoria Spartz (Indiana), Nicole Malliotakis (New York), Stephanie Bice (Oklahoma) and Burgess Owens (Utah). In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, "The Squad" is led by Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) and Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush (Missouri).
The Squad has clashed even with their own party. Ocasio-Cortez has accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of singling out newly-elected women of color.
The left has ignored its 'listening and learning' credo, likening the Freedom Force to a sect. Rep. Omar, perhaps throwing stones glass houses, compares the incoming group to immature high schoolers. The proposed Freedom group has its own diverse background - Spartz was born in the former Soviet Union, Owens grew up in the Deep South during the Jim Crow era and Bice is the first Iranian to be elected to the House.