By Sam Dorman | Fox News
Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., added to the mounting Democratic criticism of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., reportedly calling her, her chief of staff, and the group Justice Democrats “juvenile.”
“Their ignorance is beyond belief,” Clay, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, reportedly said while in the Speaker’s Lobby. His comments followed a feud between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and freshman congresswomen, like Ocasio-Cortez, that involved racially-charged criticism.
Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, previously compared moderate Democrats to racists — prompting Pelosi, at the request of some of her members, warn House Democrats not to attack each other on Twitter.
Rep. Lacy Clay just unloaded on @AOC , her chief of staff and Justice Democrats in the Speaker’s Lobby, calls them “juvenile,” says “their ignorance is beyond belief”: “You’re getting push back so you resort to using the race card? Unbelievable.”
“You got a complaint? You come and talk to me about it. But do not tweet about our members and expect us to think that that is just ok,” she reportedly said. On the same day of that caucus meeting, Ocasio-Cortez called out Pelosi for what she sees as the speaker continually targeting her and other freshmen lawmakers of color.
Clay reportedly addressed the racial undertones of the criticisms coming from Ocasio-Cortez’s office, saying it was “unbelievable” it would bring up that issue.
“What a weak argument, because you can’t get your way and because you’re getting push back you resort to using the race card? Unbelievable. That’s unbelievable to me,” Clay reportedly said on Thursday.
GINGRICH ON DEMS’ INFIGHTING: AOC, OTHER FRESHMEN QUESTIONING WHY THEY NEED TO LISTEN TO PELOSI
Clay wasn’t the only one to attack Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday. “The View” hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg criticized her’s and others’ decision to attack Democrats like Pelosi. “I think this is more BS,” Goldberg said of Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on race.
Pelosi, meanwhile, refused to provide further comment on the feud while discussing it during her weekly press briefing.
“I’ve said what I’m going to say…What I said in the caucus yesterday had an overwhelming response from my members,” she said.
“Because they know what the facts are and what we are 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.”
Fox News’ Alex Pappas contributed to this report. Sam Dorman is a reporter with Fox News.
