House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seems to have mocked members of the âSquadâ amid tension in 2019, and a soon-to-be-released book is sharing details.
There was an exchange in 2019 between Pelosi and the Democratic caucus where the speaker sternly said, âSo, again, you got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just OK.â
This came after a dispute between Pelosi and âSquadâ members. The âSquadâ â Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) â voted against an immigration bill that Pelosi supported.
Ocasio-Cortezâs chief of staff âpoured gasoline on the fire,â as USA Todayâs Susan Page writes, in response to Pelosiâs dismissal of their opposition. He suggested âhis boss was better at leading than Pelosi and accusing Democratic leaders of being unwilling to fight for their principles,â as the book excerpt reads.
Page sat down with Pelosi following the speakerâs meeting with the Democratic caucus. The article published on Thursday is an excerpt of the new biography of Pelosi by Page, which will be published on April 20.
After first suggesting everything was âfineâ and Democrats âhave always had our differences of opinion,â Pelosi was asked about her remarks about âa beautiful pâtĂŠâ and making sausage and if âthe new members fail to understand the sausage-making process.â
As Page writes:
âWith that, she became as openly agitated as I had ever seen her in an interview â and not with me.
âSome people come here, as Dave Obey would have said, to pose for holy pictures.â She changed her voice and mimicked a child trying to make a solemn show of piety. âSee how perfect I am and how pure?â
Obey, a Wisconsin congressman, had made his share of sausage as chair of the Appropriations Committee. âRemember when David used to say that all the time?â Pelosi asked, still steaming. âOK, thereâs the group thatâs going to go pose for holy pictures. Now letâs legislate over here.â
âAnd thatâs experience,â Pelosi declared.'â
Additionally, Pelosi told Page, âTheyâll understand when they have something they want to pass. If you donât want any results, you donât ever have to do anything. But if you have something that you want to pass, youâre better off not having your chief of staff send out a tweet in the manner in which that was sent out. Totally inappropriate.â
She added, âIâve never seen anything like it.â
As Page notes, by the end of 2019, Pelosi had âset a record for keeping her caucus together, despite its ideological differences.â
Pelosiâs spokesperson Drew Hammill told Politico that the speaker and the âSquadâ have a âstrong working relationship.â He also said that Pelosi was not referring to the âSquadâ specifically regarding her âholy picturesâ comment.
Former communications director for Ocasio-Cortez, Corbin Trent, however, told Politico, âBaby talk says more about the person doing it than the person theyâre characterizing.â He also claimed Pelosi was âjealousâ of the âSquadâ members.
Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortezâs relationship now is ânot warm and friendly, but itâs not as hostile as it was at different moments,â a House Democrat told Politico.
In the new biography, âMadam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power,â Pelosi said her message to the Democratic caucus shortly after the âSquadâ arrived, âWhen you come in, cross that door, take that oath, you have to be oriented toward results. Have confidence in what you believe in, have humility to listen to somebody else, because youâre not a one-person show. This is the Congress of the United States.â
