//Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) accused Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of racism on Wednesday, telling theWashington Postthat Pelosi was guilty of “the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez — also known as “AOC” — have feuded ever since the “democratic socialist” newcomer upset incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), a member of the party’s leadership team under Pelosi, in last year’s primary race.
The latest spat began on Saturday, when columnist Maureen Dowd of the New York Times reported that Pelosi had disparaged AOC and her allies on the left (original links):
I asked Pelosi whether, after being the subject of so many you-go-girl memes for literally clapping back at Trump, it was jarring to get a bad headline like the one in HuffPost that day — “What The Hell Is Nancy Pelosi Doing?” The article described the outrage of the Squad, as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts are known.
Pelosi feels that the four made themselves irrelevant to the process by voting against “our bill,” as she put it, which she felt was the strongest one she could get. “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” she said. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
AOC responded on Twitter by calling out Pelosi for her past efforts to disparage the party’s “democratic socialist” wing:
“A glass of water could’ve [beat a 20-yr incumbt]”
“The Green Dream or whatever”
“Their public whatever”
Those aren’t quotes from me; they‘re from the Speaker. Having respect for ourselves doesn’t mean we lack respect for her.
It means we won’t let everyday people be dismissed.
On Wednesday, Pelosi held a meeting with her caucus in which she reportedly insisted on party unity, and discouraged House -