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The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway breaks down the implications for President-elect Joe Biden.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's, D-N.Y., opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is dividing the Democratic Party, The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway said on Thursday.
"What’s so interesting about the Democratic Party – they technically control the House of Representatives. They’ve won the presidency, have a shot at winning the Senate and the party is in complete disarray because of this issue that Ocasio-Cortez is talking about," Hemingway told "America’s Newsroom."
"All the enthusiasm for the party comes from that progressive left-wing base but that’s what is costing them seats," Hemingway said.
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Ocasio-Cortez believes the Democratic Party needs new leaders.
The progressive firebrand said it's time for Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to go – but warned of a power vacuum that could be filled by "nefarious forces" who are "even more conservative" than the caucuses' current leaders during a podcast interview on "The Intercept" that aired Thursday.
"I do think we need new leadership in the Democratic Party," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I think one of the things that I have struggled with, I think that a lot of people struggle with, is the internal dynamics of the House has made it such that there [are] very little options for succession."
Pelosi, 80, sailed to reelection as speaker in a virtual caucus vote last month despite a spate of Democratic losses in the 2020 election, a night in which the party expected to see big wins but instead suffered some surprising defeats. While she did not face any challenges, Pelosi will need to secure a simple majority – 218 Democratic votes – by the full House of Representatives in order to maintain her gavel.
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Hemingway said Pelosi has had a "very bad year" because of the far-left-vs.-moderate schism in the Democratic Party over ideology.
"With Republicans having an excellent shot at taking back the House in two years, Democrats are trying to tamp down that progressive wing that hurts them with voters and yet that’s where all of their excitement is. Ocasio-Cortez knows she has some influence here. I’m surprised she is not using it more to get a speaker more in line with what she would like but we’ll see how this plays out. Obviously, Nancy Pelosi had a very bad year."
Fox News' Megan Henney contributed to this report.
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