Pelosi Bows To Ocasio-Cortez, De Facto New Leader Of The Party
Reuters Wire
Speaker Pelosi says her meeting with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez on Friday went very well; they discussed "working together to meet the needs of our districts and our country, fairness in our economy and diversity in our country.”
7-26-10
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had a good meeting on Friday with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the freshman lawmaker who has seized the Democratic spotlight in clashes with her own party leaders, as well as President Donald Trump.
The two women conferred on Capitol Hill, at Ocasio-Cortez’s request, as congressional Democrats left Washington for a break of six weeks with an unclear outlook for their legislative agenda and many investigations of Trump.
Impeaching Trump remains high on the priority list for left-wing Democrats such as Ocasio-Cortez. She did not speak to reporters after her meeting with Pelosi, who has worked to rein in demands for starting the process to remove Trump from office.
Pelosi told reporters after the meeting that it went “very well.”
“I don’t think we have that many differences,” she said, adding that she meets with other lawmakers “all the time.”
Later, Pelosi tweeted that she and Ocasio-Cortez “sat down to discuss working together to meet the needs of our districts and our country, fairness in our economy and diversity in our country.
”
There was no immediate comment from Ocasio-Cortez’s office.
Ocasio-Cortez had requested one-on-one time with Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the country, to discuss their relationship after weeks of party infighting over border aid legislation and other issues.
Earlier this month Pelosi appeared dismissive of the influence of Ocasio-Cortez and three other minority progressive congresswomen, known as “the squad,” in an interview with the New York Times.
Ocasio-Cortez responded by telling the Washington Post that she thought Pelosi had been “disrespectful.”
Trump then attacked the minority lawmakers in tweets that the House of Representatives, under Pelosi’s leadership, afterward voted to condemn as racist.
While Trump’s attack was seen by some as an attempt to divide Democrats, it gave Pelosi a chance to come to the squad’s defense and reset her relationship with the lawmakers as the 2020 congressional and presidential elections approach.
READ MORE......
After former Special Counsel Robert Mueller appeared on Wednesday about his investigation of Trump and Russian meddling in U.
S. politics, Ocasio-Cortez told reporters she hoped his testimony would pressure Pelosi and show the U.S. public that “impeachment is a prudent and responsible act.”
Pelosi, in a news conference on Wednesday after the Mueller testimony, gave no sign that she was speeding up her step-by-step approach to considering impeachment.
Ocasio-Cortez and one other squad member, Representative Rashida Tlaib, voted with the majority of Democrats in the House Thursday for a two-year deal to fund the federal government and extend the nation’s borrowing authority.
But two other members of the group, Representative Ayanna Pressley and Representative Ilhan Omar, voted against it
Speaker Pelosi says differences in opinion with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are a "good thing," saying "I have some level of confidence and, actually, joy in seeing diversity in our caucus."
"In our caucus, we have our differences—respect that."
Asked if she was able to bury the hatchet with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in their closed door meeting, Pelosi replies: “I don’t think there ever was any hatchet. ... I have some level of confidence and actually, joy” in diverse opinions among Democrats https://cnn.it/2GqLZaL