Nancy Pelosi calls on Joe Biden to join the ‘straight arm club’ after women share discomfort with his physical interactions
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Nancy Pelosi dismisses AOC's progressive wing of Democrats as 'like, five people'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has dismissed the influence of congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her party, describing the socialist wing of Democrats in the House of Representatives as “like, five people”.Ms Pelosi has previously rejected the rising star’s policy proposals – including the Green New Deal plan to tackle climate change and the expansion of Medicare for all Americans.In a new interview, the speaker of the House insisted there was only a very small group of left-wing Democrats who subscribed to Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas.Asked by 60 Minutes interviewer Lesley Stahl about “AOC and her group”, Ms Pelosi replied: “That’s, like, five people.”When Ms Stahl suggested “the progressive group is more than five,” the California Democrat was careful not to give up on the broad label she applied to a large swathe of the House caucus. “Well, the progressive ... I’m a progressive,” she said.The 79-year-old, who began her second speakership in January following the Democrats’ victory at the midterms, maintained that her party was not divided between radicals and moderates.“By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the centre,” she said. “That we have to … go down the mainstream.”She also addressed the idea of improving upon President Obama’s Affordable Care Act by expanding Medicare, a plan supported by Ms Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and other left-wing Democrats.“Well [the] Affordable Care Act is better than Medicare, there’s no question about that. The Affordable Care Act benefits are better. Medicare doesn’t have a catastrophic plan. So if you want Medicare for all, you’re going to have to change Medicare and let’s take a look at that.”> Pleased to have had a candid discussion with @jeremycorbyn today about the direction of Brexit, Northern Ireland, NATO, acting boldly on climate, protecting human rights, and the necessity of forcefully confronting anti-Semitism & Islamophobia. pic.twitter.com/xadfAaZO8d> > — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) > > April 14, 2019Ms Pelosi met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday at the beginning of her trip to the UK and Republic of Ireland. She said she had a “candid” discussion with the opposition leader about Brexit and antisemitism, among other subjects.The powerful Democrat has previously made subtle criticisms about politicians who depend on social media for public support. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, incidentally, has almost four million followers on Twitter.“While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have large numbers of votes on the floor of the House,” Ms Pelosi said last week.In a February interview, the speaker of the House brushed off the idea of picking up Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal proposal.“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Ms Pelosi said. “The green dream, or whatever they call it – nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?”
Nancy Pelosi has called on Joe Biden to join the “straight arm club” after multiple women expressed discomfort over their physical interactions with the former vice president.
The Democratic House speaker was answering questions about whether accusations from Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos about seemingly inappropriate contact with Mr Biden disqualified him from running in the 2020 presidential elections, as he has been considering in recent months.
Neither women claimed their exchanges with Mr Biden reached the level of assault or sexual misconduct.
Ms Pelosi said she did not believe the controversy disqualified Mr Biden from potentially joining the race, though she encouraged him to acknowledge that “people’s space is important to them.”
“I’m a member of the straight-arm club,” she said, fully extending her arm as if to shake a hand from a small distance. “I just pretend you have a cold, and I have a cold.”
Mr Biden “has to understand that in the world we’re in now, people’s space is important to them, and what’s important is how they receive it, and not necessarily how you intended it,” Ms Pelosi said on Tuesday during an interview with Politico that was live-streamed.
The House speaker added that her grandchildren “love Joe Biden,” who she said she knows well and described as “a very affectionate person.”
Both Ms Flores and Ms Lappos have accused Mr Biden of inappropriately touching them in public in seemingly awkward exchanges with the former vice president, who has been occasionally referred to as “Creepy Uncle Joe” by critics who believe he has been too hands-on with women along the campaign trail.
“I think it’s important for the vice president and others to understand, it isn’t what you intended, it’s how it was received,” Ms Pelosi said on Tuesday.
She added, “It’s how it is received, so to say, ‘I’m sorry that you were offended’ is not an apology. ‘I’m sorry I invaded your space,’ but not ‘I’m sorry you were offended.’”
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![House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has dismissed the influence of congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her party, describing the socialist wing of Democrats in the House of Representatives as “like, five people”.Ms Pelosi has previously rejected the rising star’s policy proposals – including the Green New Deal plan to tackle climate change and the expansion of Medicare for all Americans.In a new interview, the speaker of the House insisted there was only a very small group of left-wing Democrats who subscribed to Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas.Asked by 60 Minutes interviewer Lesley Stahl about “AOC and her group”, Ms Pelosi replied: “That’s, like, five people.”When Ms Stahl suggested “the progressive group is more than five,” the California Democrat was careful not to give up on the broad label she applied to a large swathe of the House caucus. “Well, the progressive ... I’m a progressive,” she said.The 79-year-old, who began her second speakership in January following the Democrats’ victory at the midterms, maintained that her party was not divided between radicals and moderates.“By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the centre,” she said. “That we have to … go down the mainstream.”She also addressed the idea of improving upon President Obama’s Affordable Care Act by expanding Medicare, a plan supported by Ms Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and other left-wing Democrats.“Well [the] Affordable Care Act is better than Medicare, there’s no question about that. The Affordable Care Act benefits are better. Medicare doesn’t have a catastrophic plan. So if you want Medicare for all, you’re going to have to change Medicare and let’s take a look at that.”> Pleased to have had a candid discussion with @jeremycorbyn today about the direction of Brexit, Northern Ireland, NATO, acting boldly on climate, protecting human rights, and the necessity of forcefully confronting anti-Semitism & Islamophobia. pic.twitter.com/xadfAaZO8d> > — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) > > April 14, 2019Ms Pelosi met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday at the beginning of her trip to the UK and Republic of Ireland. She said she had a “candid” discussion with the opposition leader about Brexit and antisemitism, among other subjects.The powerful Democrat has previously made subtle criticisms about politicians who depend on social media for public support. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, incidentally, has almost four million followers on Twitter.“While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have large numbers of votes on the floor of the House,” Ms Pelosi said last week.In a February interview, the speaker of the House brushed off the idea of picking up Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal proposal.“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Ms Pelosi said. “The green dream, or whatever they call it – nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?”](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/pO6Ov682qrsyNqzTGOq18w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_independent_635/cab49d89d0f1c569441a54c1ffe8941f)
![House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has dismissed the influence of congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her party, describing the socialist wing of Democrats in the House of Representatives as “like, five people”.Ms Pelosi has previously rejected the rising star’s policy proposals – including the Green New Deal plan to tackle climate change and the expansion of Medicare for all Americans.In a new interview, the speaker of the House insisted there was only a very small group of left-wing Democrats who subscribed to Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s ideas.Asked by 60 Minutes interviewer Lesley Stahl about “AOC and her group”, Ms Pelosi replied: “That’s, like, five people.”When Ms Stahl suggested “the progressive group is more than five,” the California Democrat was careful not to give up on the broad label she applied to a large swathe of the House caucus. “Well, the progressive ... I’m a progressive,” she said.The 79-year-old, who began her second speakership in January following the Democrats’ victory at the midterms, maintained that her party was not divided between radicals and moderates.“By and large, whatever orientation they came to Congress with, they know that we have to hold the centre,” she said. “That we have to … go down the mainstream.”She also addressed the idea of improving upon President Obama’s Affordable Care Act by expanding Medicare, a plan supported by Ms Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and other left-wing Democrats.“Well [the] Affordable Care Act is better than Medicare, there’s no question about that. The Affordable Care Act benefits are better. Medicare doesn’t have a catastrophic plan. So if you want Medicare for all, you’re going to have to change Medicare and let’s take a look at that.”> Pleased to have had a candid discussion with @jeremycorbyn today about the direction of Brexit, Northern Ireland, NATO, acting boldly on climate, protecting human rights, and the necessity of forcefully confronting anti-Semitism & Islamophobia. pic.twitter.com/xadfAaZO8d> > — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) > > April 14, 2019Ms Pelosi met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday at the beginning of her trip to the UK and Republic of Ireland. She said she had a “candid” discussion with the opposition leader about Brexit and antisemitism, among other subjects.The powerful Democrat has previously made subtle criticisms about politicians who depend on social media for public support. Ms Ocasio-Cortez, incidentally, has almost four million followers on Twitter.“While there are people who have a large number of Twitter followers, what’s important is that we have large numbers of votes on the floor of the House,” Ms Pelosi said last week.In a February interview, the speaker of the House brushed off the idea of picking up Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal proposal.“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Ms Pelosi said. “The green dream, or whatever they call it – nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?”](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/aSJFmL_w_.1bE_5SqxNUHw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcyMA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_independent_635/2bb0a073f0c1339b16fd155d9fd91891)
