Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) hit back at his fellow Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after the New York congresswoman said anti-abortion Democrats should “reassess” serving in the party.
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Cuellar, who is a self-proclaimed “pro-life Democrat,” told Fox News he understands it is a controversial issue.
“I know it’s a decision that, unfortunately, divides a lot of people,” Cuellar said. “It’s a very emotional issue, and I understand that.”
The centrist congressman also pushed back on AOC’s definition of a “real Democrat.”
“Who is she to decide what’s the standard of being a real Democrat?” Cuellar said. “If you look at what we do as members of Congress, we represent a district — she represents her district. I represent my district — and that’s the way it should be.”
During an Instagram video Sunday, AOC questioned Democrats who were not “pro-choice,” saying they should reassess if they should serve in Congress.
“Also, if you live in a blue area, when people say ‘go vote,’ that should include primary elections too,” she said. “Because, the thing that a lot of people don’t like to talk about is the fact that not every Democrat is pro-choice. OK? So, the ones that aren’t, we really need to reassess if it’s appropriate for them to continue to serve in 2022 because people should have the right to control their own body.”
The representative endorsed Jessica Cisneros, a more liberal candidate, in this year’s primary for Cuellar’s seat in Texas’s 28th Congressional District. Cuellar defeated Cisneros in a runoff in May by nearly 300 votes.
Cuellar rejected calls for a more “progressive” candidate for his district and said she should “look up” what the term means.
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“I would ask her to look up the definition of a progressive in the dictionary,” Cuellar said. “It says that a progressive is one that’s open to new ideas. The only thing wrong with some of these new progressives is that they’re not open to the new ideas. They’re only open to their ideas.”
