82-year-old House Democrat asks ‘The Squad’ if he can join

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) could be the newest member of the House’s “Squad” after the 82-year-old congressman asked his freshmen colleagues to be part of the tight-knit group.

Pascrell tweeted the request at Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) after satirical outlet The Onion poked fun at him in a Tuesday story.

{mosads}The Onion tweeted an image of Pascrell standing near Omar with the caption “Bill Pascrell Quietly Asks Ilhan Omar If He Can Be Part Of The Squad,” prompting the longtime lawmaker to tweet out his own request.

“Well. How bout it,” he quipped, tagging the four.

Well. How bout it @AyannaPressley @AOC @RepRashida @IlhanMN? https://t.co/jqdmXneYv5

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@BillPascrell) July 16, 2019

“You’re in, @BillPascrell!” Ocasio-Cortez quickly responded, appearing excited to accept Pascrell’s request to join the group.

You’re in, @BillPascrell! ☺️‍♀️‍♂️ https://t.co/iuYJfCyWng

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 16, 2019

The comical post follows tweets from President Trump on Sunday in which the president, without directly naming them, told the progressive congresswomen of color to “go back” to other countries. All four congresswomen are U.S. citizens. 

Democrats have blasted Trump for using a racist trope, and a handful of Republicans, including Reps. Will Hurd (Texas) and Mike Turner (Ohio), have described the language as racist, though most Republicans have stopped short of using the term explicitly.

Trump has refused to apologize for the remarks amid widespread backlash and has dug in on the remarks repeatedly. He defended his remarks early Tuesday, insisting that he doesn’t “have a racist bone” in his body.

The House plans to vote on its resolution against Trump’s comments later Tuesday.