Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in a new interview defended her criticism of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for “singling out” minority members of the House Democratic Caucus, vowing to continue to “stand up” for her progressive allies.
Ocasio-Cortez told the New York Daily News that she would continue to defend her allies in Congress against attacks from party leadership, which in the past she called “disrespectful.”
{mosads}“While I try to be kind, I also stand up for myself and other colleagues,” the first-term progressive lawmaker said.
“It does create some of that discomfort,” she acknowledged, adding: “But if we don’t actively try to be better, then we’re only going to have one option and that’s not going to be the best one.”
Ocasio-Cortez went on to explain that she wanted to broaden voters’ views of what is possible for the federal government to achieve, a view that puts her in natural conflict with the party’s moderates.
“I’m not trying to drive my colleagues out. I’m trying to challenge voters,” she said. “I’m trying to challenge folks who cast votes to think, ‘maybe we can go further.’”
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks come after Pelosi targeted her and several other freshman Democratic congresswomen, known as “the squad,” over their votes against a border security and aid funding bill. President Trump later criticized the four lawmakers — Ocasio-Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) — in tweets that they and others said were racist.
The House later condemned Trump’s remarks in a resolution led by Pelosi, who also argued that the president’s remarks were racist.