Nancy Pelosi has done much to redeem herself in the eyes of Democrats since re-assuming her position as Speaker of the House. Before her dramatic showdown with President Trump over the government shutdown and border wall, many had been calling for new blood in the House’s highest office.
However, her ability to block Trump’s efforts to fund a border wall and to place the blame of the government shutdown largely on the president’s shoulders brought her a lot of support. Now, Pelosi is back under fire from liberal groups for allegedly not doing enough to protect Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
In particular, many liberals are upset that Pelosi didn’t have a quicker and more stern response to one of President Trump’s tweets which showed footage of Omar spliced with footage of the Twin Towers burning. Trump took umbrage with Omar’s claim that Muslims were losing their rights because “some people did something.” The president argued that Omar was trying to downplay the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks.
As for Pelosi, her slow response to President Trump has led many to allege that she’s not taking the situation seriously enough. Many are worried that Trump’s tweet could lead to real-world violence. Omar claims that the president’s tweet has resulted in a direct increase in death threats. Omar also alleges that the death threats frequently reference President Trump’s tweet.
Omar is part of the emerging, energetic progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Pelosi has also come under fire for apparently marginalizing the progressive movement within the Democratic Party. Referencing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), Pelosi claimed that her wing had “like five people.”
Right now, however, progressive Bernie Sanders is the seeming frontrunner in the 2020 Presidential Primary, and other progressives, such as Elizabeth Warren, are drawing a lot of attention.
