Democrats Admit to CNN’s Tapper: ‘The President Won This One’ — ‘Squad’ Hurting the Party

2/ "The president won this one," said House Dem 1 of the Trump v Squad (AOC, Tlaib, Omar & Pressley) showdown. "What the president has done is politically brilliant. Pelosi was trying to marginalize these folks and the president has now identified the entire party with them."

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 17, 2019

4/ "…instead of the issues the president brings up deliberately. Anything that takes away from bread and butter issues is playing into his hands."

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 17, 2019

6/ This perceived selective outrage rankled some Dems.

"Everybody was completely outraged by what the president said," said House Dem 3, "and everybody thought it was appropriate to criticize him…

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 17, 2019

8/ A few House Dems noted that Omar and Tlaib just introduced a resolution affirming the right of Americans to boycott, perceived as an expression of support for the anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divest, and sanction) movement that most House Dems oppose.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 17, 2019

10/ House Dem 4 recalls that "less than 2 weeks ago when members of our caucus were trying to support funds for children at the border," the Squad was arguing that "we're pro-putting kids in cages, we're against human rights. So there’s frustration."

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 17, 2019

12/ AOC, in particular "gives her chief of staff license to get candidates to run against her colleagues and to go after them on social media. It makes people's skin crawl," said House Dem 3.

House Dem 4 summed it up: "We were there for them; they should stop attacking us."

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 17, 2019