Things got awkward during an interview that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) did with CNN over the weekend, as she would not say if she would support Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for Speaker of the House again.
Ocasio-Cortez told host Jake Tapper that she will be supporting the “most progressive” candidate for House speaker, and that she is considering supporting other Democrats, should Pelosi not be the most progressive one in the running.
“If Speaker Pelosi runs again, as she just indicated she will, if the Democrats keep the House, will you support her?” Tapper asked the freshman congresswoman.
“I want to make sure that we win the House,” Ocasio-Cortez replied [1]. “I do believe that we will, but it’s critically important that we are supporting Democrats in tight swing races, making sure that not only all of them come back but that we grow our majority.”
“I believe that we have to see those races as they come, see what candidates are there,” she added. “I am committed to making sure that we have the most progressive candidate there. But, if Speaker Pelosi is that most progressive candidate, then I will be supporting her.”
Pelosi, 79, who has been in the House for over three decades, has disagreed with Ocasio-Cortez and the New York congresswoman’s “Squad” several times in the past. Their disagreements have come on a variety of issues, including immigration and early calls to impeach President Donald Trump.
Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez met privately in July of 2019, and since then, they have remained publicly gracious towards one another. These latest comments from Ocasio-Cortez, however, indicates that there is still no love lost between these two Democrats.
Today, Congresswoman @RepAOC [2] and I sat down to discuss working together to meet the needs of our districts and our country, fairness in our economy and diversity in our country. pic.twitter.com/eVp1LS0Gpw [3]
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 26, 2019 [4]
Last year, Pelosi publicly attacked Ocasio-Cortez’s “Squad” after the four radical leftists voted against an emergency border-aid bill brought to the floor by leadership, arguing that migrants should be given more protection by the measure.
“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi said [5] after the bill passed in July of 2019. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people, and that’s how many votes they got.”
This did not sit well with Ocasio-Cortez, who fired back by saying, “I’ve got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful. The explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on October 26, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette [6] and is used by permission.
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