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Rep-elect Nicole Malliotakis forming ‘Freedom Squad’ to counter AOC crew

Congresswoman-elect Nicole Malliotakis will be the only Republican member in the New York City delegation come January and she is promising to be a conservative counterweight to Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by fighting for the “right” and forming her own “squad” of anti-socialists.

Malliotakis — who defeated first-term Democratic Rep. Max Rose in the 11th Congressional District that encompasses right-leaning Staten Island and southern Brooklyn — said AOC’s leftist agenda has gone largely unchecked in the liberal Big Apple.

“New York City needs a two-party system. We need someone who is going to be a counterbalance to AOC,” Malliotakis, 40, told The Post just hours after Rose conceded the race to her.

Countering AOC’s socialist-leaning agenda is also personal for Malliotakis, whose mother’s family fled Cuba.

She joins a trio of other new House Republicans whose families left Communist and socialist societies — including Cuban Americans Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira-Salazar in southern Florida and Ukrainian American Victoria Spartz in Indiana.

“We need to form our own ‘squad.’ We have a group of new Republicans who love America. We value freedom, liberty and opportunity,” Malliotakis said.

Carlos Gimenez (from left), Victoria Spartz and Maria Elvira-Salazar
Carlos Gimenez (from left), Victoria Spartz and Maria Elvira-SalazarAP (3)

She said “freedom squad” has a nice ring to it, but the branding will be open for discussion.

“Freedom for a strong economy. Less government. That’s why our families fled oppressive regimes. Our families fled from oppressive countries with the very same policies that AOC and the Squad are promoting,” she said.

AOC’s “Squad” of lefty Democrats first elected in 2018 includes Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

As the only Republican in the New York City congressional delegation, Malliotakis will have a big megaphone and the national media will likely seek out her views as the righty alternative to the lefty AOC.

United States Representative-Elect Nicole Malliotakis (Republican New York) takes time for a portrait the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Friday, November 13, 2020.
Nicole Malliotakis in Washington, DC, todayRod Lamkey - CNP

Malliotakis said New York has swung too far to the left and voters took notice during the 2020 elections.

In her district, voters still talk about how AOC and the Democratic Party’s left wing stopped Amazon from opening a new headquarters along the vacant Queens waterfront that would have created a projected 25,000 jobs and potentially billions of dollars in ancillary tax revenues.

Voters in her district also railed against AOC and liberal Democrats’ call for defunding the police and approving pro-criminal defendant policies such as eliminating cash bail for many offenses.

Following a virtual town hall Thursday night, Ocasio-Cortez was asked about Malliotakis criticizing her views during the campaign against Rose. The two have yet to cross paths.

“If she made a big deal about me, I didn’t hear it,” AOC said with a big grin. “I wish her well.”

While fighting for her beliefs, Malliotakis emphasized she will work with anyone interested in advancing bread-and-butter policies and decisions to help her constituents. She said priority No. 1 is a coronavirus relief package.

“We have a lot of businesses barely hanging on,” she said.