On Friday, President Donald Trump defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, while slamming Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The Hill reports.
Speaking to reporters gathered outside the White House, Trump said that Ocasio-Cortez is “being very disrespectful to somebody who’s been there a long time.”
Ocasio-Cortez “should treat Nancy Pelosi with respect,” he said, adding that the House speaker is “not racist.”
The commander-in-chief’s comments were in reference to the ever-escalating feud between establishment Democrats led by Pelosi, and progressive Democrats in the House led by Ocasio-Cortez.
As The Inquisitr detailed in an earlier report, the groups disagree on the issue of impeachment, with progressives taking a more aggressive approach, and calling for an impeachment inquiry, and Democrats like Pelosi arguing against the maneuver.
The tensions recently escalated following Pelosi’s decision to pass a Senate bill expanding funding for the Trump administration’s immigration authorities. Progressives accused the Speaker of caving to Trump, and she responded by slamming them in an interview with The New York Times .
“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world. But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got,” Pelosi said, referring to Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley.
The four did have a following, however, given that 95 other Democrats voted against the GOP’s bill.
Pelosi’s statements provoked a response from all four. Tlaib said that Pelosi is “diminishing” the voices of women of color within her caucus, and Ocasio-Cortez blasted the top Democrat for her “explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
“It’s a slap in the face”: Liberal organizers are not happy with Pelosi dissing AOC https://t.co/zWI3TsP51b
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) July 12, 2019
These statements were interpreted by some as implicit suggestions that Pelosi is racist, which is apparently not how President Trump feels, given that he is now defending Pelosi against progressives’ attacks.
Although Trump and Pelosi often take shots at each other, the two have also managed to find common ground on some issues. As Common Dreams reported, Pelosi backed a Trump administration-orchestrated coup in Venezuela.
As The Washington Examiner reported, Pelosi has also signaled willingness to work with the president on a $2 trillion-worth infrastructure deal.
In 2018, when the Democratic Party won back the control of the House of Representatives, some doubted Pelosi’s chances of becoming Speaker. As The Washington Post reported, Trump endorsed the California Democrat, offering Republican votes.
At a private House Democratic caucus meeting yesterday, @SpeakerPelosi continued her criticism of the progressives in her party. “Every time I’m attacked, I raise more money,” Pelosi said, looking directly at Rep. @AOC . https://t.co/c3kXRrDpoE
— The Intercept (@theintercept) July 11, 2019
“I can get Nancy Pelosi as many votes as she wants in order for her to be Speaker of the House. She deserves this victory, she has earned it – but there are those in her party who are trying to take it away. She will win!” he said at the time.
According to a CNN poll released in early June, Trump has a higher approval rating than Pelosi.