Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says progressives in Congress have a lot of ‘animus’ toward Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment stance
- Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claims progressive Democrats in Congress are not happy with how Nancy Pelosi is handling impeachment
- She told ABC Sunday morning progressives have a lot of ‘animus’ toward the House speaker
- ‘I believe that there is a very real animus and desire to make sure that we are, that — that we are holding this president to account,’ Ocasio-Cortez said
- Pelosi has been hesitant to call for Trump’s impeachment, claiming congressional committees should continue independent investigations
- She told colleagues privately last week that she wants to see Trump prosecuted and behind bars after he leaves the White House
Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocaiso-Cortez said that ‘animus’ against House Speaker Nancy Pelsoi is pretty strong among progressives in Congress lately.
‘I think it’s quite real,’ the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist told ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning in regards to frustration with Pelosi from within the party.
‘I believe that there is a very real animus and desire to make sure that we are, that — that we are holding this president to account,’ she continued.
In her first Sunday show interview since taking office in January 2019, Ocasio-Cortez said it’s not ‘flying with progressives’ for Pelsoi to skirt the line on impeachment.
Pelosi has not joined more than 50 Democrats in Congress that are calling for impeachment proceedings against the president, and has instead said congressional investigations need to continue.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said there is a lot of ‘animus’ from progressives in Congress toward House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her impeachment stance
The freshman representative has said Special Council Robert Mueller was signalling Congress that its their job to bring charges against the president
Reportedly the House Speaker recently told colleagues that she doesn’t want Trump impeached because she wants to see him prosecuted and put behind bars after he leaves office.
‘I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison.’ Pelosi told other Democrats, according to the report.
Sen. Kamala Harris, a candidate for president, joined that call – even though she has also said she wants him impeached.
Last week, she told NPR Politics Podcast that she would give the Department of Justice ‘no choice’ but to prosecute Trump as a private citizen if she were to win the White House.
Democrats began widely calling for impeachment after Special Council Robert Mueller’s Russia report concluded in March. The 448-page revealed when it was made public in mid-April that Trump had not conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential elections.
It did, however, outlined a potential instances of obstruction of justice. This, Democrats said, was enough for impeachment proceedings to commence.
Ocasio-Cortez agrees, and even said she believes Mueller was signalling Congress that it was their job to act on charging the president. In a speech from the Justice Department last month, he said he did not charge Trump with a crime because it is against DOJ protocol to charge a sitting president with a federal crime.
Pelosi has been hesitant to call for Trump’s impeachment, and instead has privately said she wants to see him prosecuted and behind bars after leaving office
During her first ever Sunday show appearance, Ocasio-Cortez also touted women’s issues, saying it was ‘probably’ a mistake for Democrats to let Bill Clinton off the hook for the way he treated women in the past
The progressive representative said the decision to impeach shouldn’t be based solely on public opinion and polling.
‘I think that impeachment is incredibly serious, and this is about the presence and evidence that the president may have committed a crime, in this case more than one,’ Ocasio-Cortez continued Sunday morning.
‘And so I believe that our decision on impeachment should be based in our constitutional responsibilities and duties, and not in elections or polling.’
During her interview Sunday morning, Ocasio-Cortez also brought up women’s issues including the wage gap and maternity leave.
She hit at Democrats who she said made a mistake in giving former President Bill Clinton a pass in regards to the way he treated women in the past.
‘Probably,’ Ocasio-Cortez told ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning when asked if Democrats were wrong.
‘I actually don’t think that this is as partisan – I wouldn’t look at this through a partisan lens,’ she continued. ‘I think that this is part of an evolution that we’ve been having as a country. Women have historically been mistreated, I don’t think that that is really a controversial thing to say.’
Ocasio-Cortez was elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm elections and swiftly rose to prominence when she unseated 10-term incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in her primary race.