House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not even tried to hide the fact that she's annoyed by freshman lawmaker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). That may be because Ocasio-Cortez has not even tried to hide the fact she's annoyed with the speaker. Pelosi isn't progressive enough for AOC's taste, which is why she's joined in on environmental protests outside her office and demanded the speaker make it a top House priority.
In return, Pelosi has dismissed AOC's lofty Green New Deal as the "green dream or whatever," and minimized the progressive wing of the Democratic Party by telling media it consists of "like five people." Her recent zinger, however, may come with the biggest stinger. Ocasio-Cortez's primary win against incumbent Joe Crowley was an inspirational surprise to many, but on Monday Pelosi reminded an audience that literally anyone - or anything, it turns out - with a "D" next to their name could win in New York's 14th congressional district.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi takes another shot at socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), says a “glass of water” with a “D” next to it “would win” in Ocasio-Cortez's district. pic.twitter.com/sPbhEUTeir
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 15, 2019
In January, late night host Stephen Colbert asked Ocasio-Cortez to respond to establishment Democrats like Pelosi who have instructed her to "wait her turn" and get her feet wet in Congress before trying to shake things up. She said she gives "zero" f***s" what those senior representatives had to say and then compared herself to civil rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr.