House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is “not dismissing” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., despite denying her claim that leading Democrats are not preparing young members of the party for top posts.
During an interview on Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” reporter Lesley Stahl asked, "Why does AOC complain that you have not been grooming younger people for leadership?"
Pelosi said, "I don't know. You'll have to ask her ... because we are."
When Stahl noted that the speaker's answer sounded "kind of sharp, kind of dismissive," Pelosi said, "I'm not dismissing her. I respect her. I think she's very effective, as are ... many other members of our caucus that the press doesn't pay attention to. But they are there and they are building support for what comes next."
Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept in an interview last month that Pelosi, 80, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is 70, are not helping younger generations prepare to take over as leaders in the party.
“A lot of this is not just about these two personalities, but also about the structural shifts that these two personalities have led in their time in leadership,” she said. “The structural shifts of power in the House, both in process and rule, to concentrate power in party leadership of both parties, frankly, but in Democratic Party leadership to such a degree that an individual member has far less power than they did 30, 40, 50 years ago.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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