Pelosi Denounces Ocasio-Cortez on National TV: She’s a ‘Socialist’ Nobody

“That’s like five people.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected the socialist politics of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her allies in an interview Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

“So you are contending with a group in Congress: Over here on the left flank are these self-described socialists, on the right, these moderates,” said correspondent Leslie Stahl. “And you yourself said that you’re the only one who can unify everybody. And the question is can you?”

Pelosi replied, “By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the center. That we have to be m– go down the mainstream.”

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“They know that?” Stahl pushed.

“They do,” Pelosi averred.

“But it doesn’t look like that. It looks as if it’s fractured,” Stahl said. “You have these wings, AOC and her group on one side –”

Grinning for some reason, Pelosi interrupted: “That’s like five people.”

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“No, it’s– the progressive group is more than five,” Stahl pressed.

“Well, the progressive– I’m a progressive, yeah,” Pelosi said.

“Well, as I understand it, the progressives want radical change. They want to get rid of Obama care and replace it with Medicare for all,” Stahl said, referring to growing calls for government-provided healthcare insurance.

Pelosi has repeatedly sought to reign-in a handful of freshman members of her party who have dominated the political media with their left-wing proclamations and over-the-top criticism of the Trump administration. The stars of the group have been three women: Ocasio-Cortez of New York, aka AOC, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

However, Pelosi has not always succeeded. Last month, she failed to pass a resolution condemning anti-Semitism in response to a series of anti-Israel comments by Omar, instead settling for a vague rejection of bigotry in general. On Saturday, she had to defend Omar after President Donald Trump came after the Muslim congresswoman on Twitter for characterizing the Sept. 11 attacks as “some people did something.”

With progressives increasingly emboldened, some have raised concerns that the women are tarring the entire Democratic Party with their agenda, dooming its chances of retaking the White House or making gains in Congress in 2020.

When Stahl pushed Pelosi on her party’s increasing association with socialism, Pelosi repudiated the ideology, saying that “I do reject socialism as an economic system. If people have that view, that’s their view. That is not the view of the Democratic Party.”

Elsewhere in the largely laudatory profile, Pelosi recounted standing up to Trump and reiterated her opinion that he is unfit for office and knows it.

Trump, who has been said to admire Pelosi despite their political rivalry, responded to the segment scornfully.

“Such a ‘puff piece’ on Nancy Pelosi by @60minutes, yet her leadership has passed no meaningful Legislation,” he tweeted Sunday night. “All they do is Investigate, as it turns out, crimes that they instigated & committed.”

Such a “puff piece” on Nancy Pelosi by @60minutes, yet her leadership has passed no meaningful Legislation. All they do is Investigate, as it turns out, crimes that they instigated & committed. The Mueller No Collusion decision wasn’t even discussed-and she was a disaster at W.H.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2019

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