House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a meeting with Socialist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and it seems the freshman lawmaker’s words and ideas are making a difference.
At a press event afterward, Pelosi discussed the meeting and attempted to downplay the growing rift between in the party, between the more moderate old guard and Justice Democrats and other radical young liberals working to push it left.
In recent weeks, AOC has described House leaders as “downright disrespectful” and implied Pelosi is racist, while the House speaker has repeatedly minimized AOC’s influence in the legislature.
But Pelosi brushed off the kerfuffle in her comments following today’s meeting with AOC, and even seemingly adopted some of the same rhetoric the congresswoman and fellow Justice Democrats use to describe the president.
“Do you think you were able to bury the hatchet with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez in your meeting?” a reporter asked Pelosi.
“I don’t think there ever was any hatchet,” Pelosi said.
“Well, she called you downright disrespectful,” the reporter replied.
“Well, that’s, that’s … we’re in the political arena,” the 79-year-old career politician said.
“Let me just say this because I have some level of confidence and actually joy in seeing diversity in our caucus. We are the Democratic Party,” she said. “Ever since I came here we have been engaged in differences of opinion in our caucus and that is a good thing.”
“We are not a lock-step, rubber stamp representation of anything except representatives of our districts and what that means,” Pelosi continued.
“We sat down today and had a good meeting. The congresswoman is a very gracious member of Congress, so we had a very positive conversation about our districts and how we represent them, our country and how we need to meet the needs, diversity of America and the challenges we face in terms of issues. And immigration and how people are respected,” she said.
“Again, I referenced Ronald Reagan, as opposed to the current occupant of the White House,” Pelosi said.
While Pelosi has referred to Trump as “the current occupant of the White House” in the past, her choice of words Friday are interesting, considering that Justice Democrats have worked for weeks to scrub Trump’s name from their vernacular.
Rep. @AyannaPressley: “We are more than four people. We ran on a mandate to advocate for those ignored, left out, and left behind. Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world.” pic.twitter.com/Nq8KhcDX9r
— The Hill (@thehill) July 15, 2019
“We are grateful for your solidarity, your encouragement and your support in the face of the most recent xenophobic, bigoted remarks from the occupant of our White House,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, one of four Justice Democrats the president urged to leave the country if they hate America, said after Trump’s attacks on Twitter.
“I will always refer to him as the occupant, as he is only occupying space,” she said. “He does not embody the grace, the empathy, the compassion, the integrity, that that office requires and that the American people deserve.”
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