Ocasio Cortez Pelosi
Ocasio-Cortez lamented that the longtime Democratic leaders, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, spent years concentrating power without any “real grooming of a next generation of leadership.” The New York congresswoman’s scathing critique of the top Democrats appears to be a far cry from her own previous rhetoric. Ocasio-Cortez added that the “power-concentrated dynamic” created by Pelosi and Schumer has disenfranchised “really talented members” to leave Congress. Though the New York congresswoman. On CNN's State of the Union, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hedges on if she plans to vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House in January. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez insisted that top Democrats House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should no longer head the party during a new podcast with The.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed on Sunday that she respects Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a far-left “Squad” member who has openly criticized the Democrat Party’s leadership, telling CBS News’s Leslie Stahl she is “not dismissing” people like AOC despite years-long rumors of infighting within the caucus.
During a comprehensive interview on CBS News’s 60 Minutes, Stahl asked the speaker to address complaints from AOC — particularly regarding Pelosi’s purported failure to seek younger members to lead the party in the future.
“Why does AOC complain that you have not been grooming younger people for leadership?” Stahl asked.
“I don’t know, “Pelosi quipped. “You’ll have to ask her … because we are.”
Stahl characterized Pelosi’s response as “kind of sharp, kind of dismissive,” but the 80-year-old lawmaker disagreed, contending that she respects the younger progressive.
“I’m not dismissing her. I respect her. I think she’s very effective, as are … many other members of our caucus that the press doesn’t pay attention to. But they are there, and they are building support for what comes next,” Pelosi added:
It seems that AOC and Pelosi have a wonderful relationship pic.twitter.com/egS6EBUUoJ
— Icculus The Brave (@FirenzeMike) January 11, 2021
Pelosi and far-left members of the “Squad” have been at odds over the past two years as the party continually attempts to strike a balance, satisfying the establishment Democrats and more progressive members who seek radical changes, such as defunding the police.
In last month’s interview with The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill, Ocasio-Cortez stated, “We need new leadership in the Democratic Party.”
“I think one of the things that I have struggled with — I think that a lot of people struggle with — is the internal dynamics of the House has made it such that there’s very little option for succession if you will, you know?” she said, adding that there are no “viable alternatives” to Pelosi, who recently won the speakership election with 216 votes — short of a House majority.
She said in part:
When you have really talented members of Congress that do come along, the opportunities to lead are so few and far between, that they leave, that the kind of path of ascension, if you will, for a lot of members looking around, both progressive and conservative alike, is to run for a statewide office and get out of there.
While the New York lawmaker expressed the belief that Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) need to go, she emphasized that the party needs a plan to fill the void.
“Because if you create that vacuum, there are so many nefarious forces at play to fill that vacuum with something even worse,” she said.
Nancy Pelosi Ocasio Cortez
“And so the actual sad state of affairs is that there are folks more conservative than even they are willing to kind of fill that void,” she continued, adding, “We need to make sure that we have a transition of power in the leadership of the Democratic Party.”
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A new progressive movement popping up in Democratic circles led by political comedian Jimmy Dore, is pushing House Democrats to align and force Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to bring a vote to the floor on Medicare for All.
The initiative known as #ForceTheVote is calling on the 'squad' along with recently elected progressives, like Rep.-elects Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush from Missouri, to push back on Pelosi by demanding she allow a vote on the single-payer health care system in exchange for her re-election as speaker.
'We put the Squad and House progressives in office to stand up to Nancy Pelosi, establishment Democrats, and the insurance corporations that fund them,' declared the movement in a statement. 'This is a rare moment where Pelosi needs something from progressives.'
The movement has caught the attention of some political activists like NFL Chargers player Justin Jackson, who started a public discussion on Twitter with squad member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
'If [Ocasio-Cortez] and the squad don’t do what [Dore] has suggested and withhold their vote for Pelosi for speakership unless Med 4 All gets brought to the floor for a vote...they will be revealing themselves,' Jackson wrote on Twitter earlier this month. 'Power concedes nothing without a demand.'
But Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying the calls to elect Pelosi as speaker in exchange for a House vote on Medicare for All, isn’t as easy as holding Pelosi hostage.
'Problem w/ this idea is that there isn’t enough thought given to step 2,' Ocasio-Cortez responded. 'The Dem votes aren’t there yet, and with a razor-thin margin the Dem NOs are > margin. So you issue threats, hold your vote, and lose. Then what? If you want to know who’s opposed look @ cosponsor list.'
House Democrats lost 12 seats at the November polls lessening their majority in the House – though some have theorized this could actually benefit left-leaning progressives, including Ocasio-Cortez.
'The slimmer margin, it cuts both ways,' Ocasio-Cortez told the conservative magazine, The Dispatch earlier this month. 'It’s tough because we have to make sure that we cobble together a winning majority, but also it’s solid because we’re able to push a little bit more.'
Centrist Democrats pointed to progressive measures like the Green New Deal and calls to 'defund the police' pushed by 'squad' members, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota; Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts; and Rashida Tlaib of Michgian as the reason Democrats took hits at the polls.
But progressives pushed back against the accusations, claiming that the Democratic Party saw losses because 'establishment Democrats' did not effectively identify what voters were looking for in the general election.
Instead of losing power with a smaller Democratic majority, progressive lawmakers may be able to better steer Pelosi’s agenda by the fact that the speaker will need every Democrat's vote to get legislation through – a strategy Dore is urging progressives to use.
Ocasio-cortez Pelosi Schumer
Though as Ocasio-Cortez pointed out, the progressive measures still need enough support from the entire party to be able to get passed, meaning the 'squad' and it’s growing members will not be able to dictate Pelosi’s agenda in passing Medicare for All on their own.
Pelosi Ocasio Cortez Meeting
Dore could not be immediately reached for comment.