“The base of the Democratic Party looks a lot more like AOC and Ayanna Pressley than Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer,” Waleed Shahid, the spokesperson for Justice Democrats, a progressive group that helped Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, and Omar win their seats, told BuzzFeed News. “ There are way more young people, people of color, working class people, and women. The base looks like these members, who supported her bid for speaker, not like the centrists or Blue Dogs who have been trying to oust her for years.”…

“I think the base of the party wants bold leadership right now, and they might start wondering why the Speaker of the House and the party leader is spending time attacking progressive members. And down the road, they might start wondering what other House leadership might look like,” Shahid said.

“This is not a good look, given that women of color were the core vote who gave her that job she has in the first place,” Allison told BuzzFeed News about Pelosi’s comments. “To diminish, to tokenize, and to vilify women of color who are coming into Congress and breaking all these barriers, after posing with them in all white, and then you dismiss them as ‘just four votes’? They’re not just four votes! For many of us, they’re the physical manifestation of generations of blood, sweat, and tears for representation in Congress.”