It started with a headline from our, ahem, colleagues at The Onion.

"82-Year-Old New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell Quietly Asks Ilhan Omar If He Can Be Part of The Squad."

The Onion published a facetious story about the veteran Democrat, who represents New Jersey's 9th Congressional district.

The Onion, which publishes fictional journalism about the news of the day, wrote:

"... 82-year-old New Jersey congressman Bill Pascrell quietly asked Rep. Ilhan Omar Tuesday if he could be part of her squad. 'Excuse me, Ms. Omar, but I’ve been paying a good deal of attention to this so-called "squad" of yours and can’t help but think that I might make an exciting addition to join in on the fun,' said the Paterson-based octogenarian, smiling broadly and nodding his head as he noted that he maintained a strong presence on social media and could furnish several hearty recommendations from colleagues if it would help with any decisions on his prospective squad membership."

And then, from Pascrell, a veteran who represents New Jersey's 9th District, came this tweet:

The tweet, published at 2:18 p.m., warranted this response from Pascrell's colleague, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, who wrote back to the Paterson native at 2:47 p.m.:

Ocasio-Cortez, along with Omar, D-Minn.; Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., were the targets of a series of racist tweets from President Donald Trump, who suggested Sunday that members of the Democratic freshman class known as "the Squad" leave the United States.

The House of Representatives passed a resolution that condemned Trump's racist tweets Tuesday night — but the vote split along party lines. Only four Republican members of Congress and one Independent vote to support the resolution, which passed 240-187.

Email: forbes@northjersey.com