House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasted little time on Sunday making it clear who actually runs the Democratic Party.
During an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, the California Democrat was asked by host Lesley Stahl about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s growing power in the Democratic Party.
Stahl asked Pelosi about whether she has done an effective job unifying the different factions, such as moderates, progressives, and socialists — all of which have different agendas.
Can the Speaker of the House unify the Democratic party while getting pushback from the left and self-described democratic socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? https://t.co/f4VUYTYIdw pic.twitter.com/a9wOobPj5g
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 14, 2019
“So you are contending with a group in Congress: Over here on the left flank are these self-described socialists, on the right, these moderates,” Stahl said. “And you yourself said that you’re the only one who can unify everybody. And the question is can you?”
Pelosi replied, “By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the center. That we have to be m– go down the mainstream.”
Stahl then pointed out that it sure looks like the Democratic Party is “fractured.”
“You have these wings – AOC, and her group on one side,” Stahl began.
“That’s like five people,” Pelosi fired back, donning a smirk on her face.
“No…” Stahl began, defending the freshman lawmakers. “You have the progressive group.”
“I’m a progressive…I’m a progressive, yeah,” Pelosi responded, shrugging her shoulders.
Pelosi also waved off the claim that her party is adopting socialism, saying it is “not the view of the Democratic Party.”
This is the second time this week that Pelosi has gone after Ocasio-Cortez with not-so-subtle digs.
During an interview last week with USA Today, the House Speaker noted that congressional votes are far more powerful than Twitter followers — a dig at Ocasio-Cortez’s massive social media following.
“While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have a large number of votes on the floor of the House,” Pelosi said.
Leave a Comment
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.