Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) chastised a reporter on Thursday who asked her about an escalating spat within the Democratic caucus between the speaker and progressive members, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., NY).
"I've said what I'm gonna say in the caucus," Pelosi said in response to a question about the dispute. "That's where this is appropriate, and I said what I'm gonna say in the caucus."
"If I could just follow briefly, you talk a lot about civility in the caucus," a reporter began. "This is a message you preached yesterday to your members, but many of those freshman members who have taken offense to your comments, they found it demoralizing—"
"I said what I'm going to say. With all due respect, maybe you didn't hear what I said," Pelosi said. "I said what I'm going to say on the subject. What I said in the caucus yesterday about an overwhelming response from my members because they know what the facts are and what we're responding to. We respect the value of every member of our caucus. The diversity of it all is a wonderful thing. Diversity is our strength, unity is our power, and we have a big fight, and we're in the arena. And that's all I'm gonna say on the subject."
"So if you want to waste your question," Pelosi said, "you can waste your question."
On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) of singling out women of color newly elected to the House, calling her criticism "outright disrespectful."
Earlier this week, Pelosi slammed Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives in an interview with the New York Times. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) called Pelosi's remarks "demoralizing."
Pelosi's comments came after the House passed the Senate version of a $4.6 billion border aid package, despite criticism from Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), and other progressives.