Ayanna Pressley backs Warren for president, splitting with rest of 'the squad'

CONCORD, N.H. — Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., announced Wednesday that she is backing home state Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Pressley’s endorsement comes after the three other freshmen congresswomen who make up “the squad” — New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib — announced their support for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

In a video she tweeted Wednesday, Pressley said that “big structural change can’t wait” and applauded Warren’s myriad policy proposals, saying “the plans are about power.”

Pressley’s is arguably the most high-profile endorsement Warren has earned thus far. The senator stayed out of Massachusetts’ 2018 Democratic primary, declining to support a fellow member of the congressional delegation in favor of staying neutral. Pressley, a former Hillary Clinton surrogate who spent 16 years as a staffer for some of the biggest names in Massachusetts politics, ran an insurgent progressive campaign to oust the 22-year incumbent, former Rep. Mike Capuano.

Pressley will campaign with Warren in North Carolina this week, Pressley’s chief of staff confirmed to NBC News.

source: nbcnews.com