Pelosi endorses Kennedy in Senate, angers AOC

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Rep. Joe Kennedy in his Senate bid on Thursday, drawing ire from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
• AOC strongly supports incumbent Sen. Ed Markey, who sponsored more left-wing policies such as the Green New Deal.
• Last year, Pelosi has clashed with Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the “Squad” over a House-passed spending measure aimed at helping migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday endorsed Rep. Joe Kennedy III in a primary challenge against Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, yielding charges of hypocrisy from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Markey is the Senate sponsor of Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal. Kennedy, a centrist who benefits from his famous family name, outraged progressives by opposing marijuana legalization and legislation to curb mass surveillance.

“No one gets to complain about primary challenges again,” AOC wrote on Twitter after Pelosi (D-Calif.) cut a video ad for Kennedy.

Democratic Party bosses in the House previously blacklisted firms that worked with left-wing candidates in primary campaigns against incumbents, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out.

“So @dccc, when can we expect you to reverse your blacklist policy against primary orgs?” she wrote, complaining it “seems like less a policy and more a cherry-picking activity.”

In her endorsement, Pelosi said: “In 2018 when we took back the House, Joe campaigned across America to make that victory possible. He knows that to achieve progressive change, you must be on the front lines leading movements of people.”

Kennedy thanked Pelosi on Twitter, writing, “No one has done more to take on Donald Trump and build our Party’s future. Proud and humbled to have her with me in this fight.”

In July 2019, Pelosi clashed with Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of the “Squad” after the four voted against a House-passed spending measure aimed at helping migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi said last year, referring to the four freshman lawmakers. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

In a Thursday evening statement to The Post, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill defended her endorsement of Kennedy and stressed that Pelosi had also endorsed AOC for re-election.

“The Speaker has been consistent in her support for House Democrats — for their re-election efforts and for their bids for higher office, including Congressman Joe Kennedy for Senate,” Hammill said.

Source: New York Post