Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi clashed with a reporter Wednesday after being asked about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s role in the government shutdown fight.
The reporter pressed Pelosi on whether Republicans should negotiate with Ocasio-Cortez, pointing to GOP claims that she was directing the talks. Pelosi cut him off.
"Why are you saying such a ridiculous thing?" she snapped.
The exchange came after Ocasio-Cortez appeared on MSNBC the night before. On air, she told Republicans, "My office is open, and you are free to walk in and negotiate with me directly."
Pelosi dismissed the idea that Ocasio-Cortez is running point. She stressed that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is leading Democrats in negotiations.
"She’s wonderful, she’s a real team player, and the rest of that," Pelosi said. "You started by saying Republicans say that she’s directing this. She is not, Hakeem Jeffries is, and this takes a lot of experience, a lot of unity from the caucus in terms of the point of view, and that’s what this is."
Pelosi added that Ocasio-Cortez is an "articulate spokesperson for her point of view," but made clear that Jeffries is the one driving the talks.
It wasn’t the first time Pelosi has sought to limit Ocasio-Cortez’s influence. In 2019, she downplayed the progressive bloc, telling 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." And last year, Punchbowl reported Pelosi worked against Ocasio-Cortez’s bid for a top committee role, a race AOC ultimately lost 131 to 84.