Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) jumped into action after a New York Times editor slammed AOC's progressive Democrat 'Squadmates' Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as not representative of the Midwest.

In a now-deleted tweet, New York Times deputy Washington editor Jonathan Weisman responded to a comment by Justice Democrats spokesman Waleed Shahid - who was opining on a debate comment made by 2020 Democratic candidate Claire McCaskill (D-MO) that "free stuff from the government doesn't play well in the Midwest."

Weisman replied, suggesting that saying Tlaib and Omar are from the Midwest "is like saying @RepLloydDoggett (D-Austin) is from Texas or @repjohnlewis (D-Atlanta) is from the Deep South" (which they are).

AOC had her girls' backs, tweeting that her colleagues "literally are" Midwestern. While Tlaib was born in Detroit, Michigan, Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia but was brought to Minnesota as a child.

They literally are, &this comment is what erasure looks like. HIGH TURNOUT from DEEP BLUE SEATS &being competitive everywhere is the core of a winning strategy.



It’s disturbing to see this Trump talking pt that dense, diverse communities “aren’t the REAL [America/Midwest/etc].” https://t.co/S97RillWbU — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 31, 2019

Shahid, meanwhile, responded "The people who shape our national conversation should be telling the story of how we are all Americans, not repeating Trump’s racism. They do us all a disservice when they echo Trump’s dog whistles that tell us some people are more ‘American’ or ‘Midwestern’ than others -- that our lives and our votes matter less than others," adding "We must change the idea that people of color can’t exemplify the region -- or the nation -- in which we live."

To which Weisman, choosing this hill to die on before deleting his tweet, replied "[P]lease don’t tell me that Atlanta is synonymous with Georgia. It isn't."