Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib responded over the weekend to comments made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioning the strength of the progressive Democratic movement, which she dubbed “their Twitter world.”
Mrs. Pelosi criticized the three lawmakers and Rep. Ayanna Pressley for being the only four Democrats that opposed legislation that would provide protections to migrant children in detention centers.
“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,” the California Democrat said, according to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez responded quickly Saturday.
“That public ’whatever’ is called public sentiment. And Wielding the power to shift it is how we actually achieve meaningful change in this country,” the New York Democrat tweeted.
“I find it strange when members act as though social media isn’t important. They set millions of [dollars] on [fire] to run TV ads so people can see their message. I haven’t dialed for dollars *once* this year, & have more time to do my actual job. Yet we’d rather campaign like it’s 2008,” she said.
Ms. Omar responded in agreement Sunday, saying Mrs. Pelosi’s statement was “patetico,” the Spanish word for pathetic.
“You know they’re just salty about WHO is wielding the power to shift ’public sentiment’ these days, sis. Sorry not sorry,” the Minnesota Democrat tweeted.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’ Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti said the four Democrats opposed the measure because they feared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would go back on a promise to pass the House bill.
Ms. Tlaib responded Sunday: “Nah. It is deeper than that. Why would we fund a broken system that rips children away from their parents, deny asylum seekers due process & fuels a racist ideology that dehumanizes people?”
“It baffles the mind that *some* still don’t get it. When people like me come out, we win. When #PeopleLikeUs run, we inspire more folks to be engaged. It wasn’t the persuading of Trumpers that won back the majority, it was turning out more of us,” the Michigan Democrat added.
Ms. Pressley has yet to speak publicly about Mrs. Pelosi’s comments.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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