Bernie Sanders sided with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in the young progressive’s feud with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The progressive patriarch told Chuck Todd of NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Pelosi (D-CA) was being “a little bit” too harsh on his socialist disciples, The Washington Examiner reported.
The presidential hopeful added that “younger people” with the far-left views of Ocasio-Cortez are “the future of the Democratic Party,” and that leadership would do well not to “alienate them.”
Dem divide bursts open
The long-running feud between party leadership and the far-left burst into the open recently when Pelosi dismissed the influence of Ocasio-Cortez and three other progressive women of color who call themselves “the Squad”: Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). Pelosi said the progressive Democrats have only four votes in Congress despite their influence in “Twitter world.”
The House speaker’s rebuke came after the four lawmakers voted against a House border funding bill that Pelosi supported because it was not liberal enough. Ocasio-Cortez responded last week by accusing Pelosi of racism for “singling out” the four women.
For his part, Todd asked Sanders whether Pelosi was being too tough on the “Squad,” and Sanders agreed that Pelosi was being a “little bit” too critical of the first-term lawmakers, Fox News reports.
“You cannot ignore the young people of this country who are passionate about economic and racial and social and environmental justice,” Sanders said. “You got to bring them in, not alienate them.”
Sanders sides with socialists
The 77-year-old Democrat commands respect from Ocasio-Cortez and other self-described “democratic socialists” for his role in radicalizing the American progressive movement. While Ocasio-Cortez hasn’t endorsed any Democrats for president, she has appeared with Sanders at public events and, according to Bloomberg, co-sponsored some of his policies, including so-called “Medicare for All” and canceling all student loan debt, The Hill reports.
Indeed, the young lawmaker has even said that Sanders is “definitely up there” as she considers who to back for president.
For his part, Sanders was clear on Sunday that he supports Ocasio-Cortez and co.’s mission to bring “young people” into the political conversation.
“What Alexandria and other young women of color are saying, we have got to reach out to young people. We have got to heal the pain of the working class in this country. And that is causing some political disruption within the leadership of the Democratic Party,” Sanders told Todd.
He went on: “I support, you know, Alexandria’s and other women’s desire to bring more people, especially young people, working-class people, into the Democratic Party. That is the future of the Democratic Party.”
WATCH: Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says Speaker Pelosi is being a ‘little bit’ too tough on AOC #MTP #IfItsSunday@BernieSanders: “You cannot ignore the young people of this country. … You gotta bring them in, not alienate them.” pic.twitter.com/IAU6KdiKux
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) July 14, 2019
It looks like both Bernie Sanders and a new generation of Democrats are ditching the old ways of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. How long can she keep reining her caucus in before they find a new leader?
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