Nancy Pelosi dismisses Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's left-wing policies, says just 'five people' in Democratic party hold such views
It appears that the rift between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is increasingly growing. Pelosi, in a fresh dismissal of AOC, described the socialist wing of Democrats in the House of Representatives as "like, five people."
The House Speaker made the comment during a 60 Minutes interview, where she insisted that there was only a small group of left-wing Democrats who endorsed Ocasio-Cortez's ideas.
When Pelosi was asked by interviewer Lesley Stahl about "AOC and her group," the House Speaker replied with: "That's, like, five people." However, when the interviewer suggested that the "progressive group is more than five," the 79-year-old interjected with "Well, the progressive ... I'm a progressive."
Pelosi assumed the chair of House Speaker in the first week of January after the Democrats' victory in the midterms. The Democrat has always maintained that her party is not divided between radicals and moderates.
“By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the center,” she said. “That we have to … go down the mainstream.”
Pelosi, in her previous comments about AOC, rejected the congresswoman's policy proposals, including her Green New Deal aimed at tackling climate change. Although Pelosi has been one of the biggest advocates for climate-change legislation during her political career in Congress, the House Speaker downplayed the Green New Deal during an interview with Politico.
Pelosi, while discussing her recently convened climate change panel, suggested that Ocasio's climate change deal "will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive. The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is but they’re for it, right?”
The seasoned Democrat has also made subtle criticisms about politicians who use social media as a platform to garner public support. Ocasio-Cortez has nearly four million followers on Twitter and is considered a whiz in the productive usage of the arena.
Pelosi appeared to take a swipe at the freshman, saying that having a caucus capable of passing legislation is more important than the size of any House Democrat’s social media following.
"While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have large numbers of votes on the floor of the House," Pelosi said last week.
Ocasio-Cortez and Pelosi got off on a rocky start ever since their midterm elections win; a week after the result nearly 200 climate activists crowded into the Capital Building offices of then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. AOC, halfway through the protest, visited to show her support for the protesters.