Sen. Bernie Sanders' comments came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chided progressives in a closed-door meeting Wednesday. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Congress Bernie Sanders: Pelosi is ‘a little bit’ too tough on AOC’s squad

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is being “a little bit” too tough on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her squad of young Democratic women, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday.

“What Alexandria and other young women and women of color are saying, 'We have got to reach out to young people,'” the 2020 presidential contender said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” “We have to hear the pain of the working class of this country. And that is causing some political disruption within the leadership of the Democratic Party.“


Ocasio-Cortez of New York has allied herself on many matters with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

Asked by host Chuck Todd whether Pelosi is being too tough on the group, the Vermont senator said, “I think a little bit.“

“You cannot ignore the young people of this country who are passionate about economic and racial and social and environmental justice,” Sanders said. “You got to bring them in, not alienate them.“

Sanders' comments came after Pelosi chided progressives in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, calling on them to address their intraparty grievances privately rather than airing them on Twitter.

The House Democrats' Twitter account on Friday skewered Ocasio-Cortez‘s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, after he criticized Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) for enabling a “racist system” by voting for a border funding package that progressives said didn't go far enough to protect migrants.

“She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue,” the Democratic account tweeted. “Keep her name out of your mouth.”