There’s been a lot of reporting on the rocky political relationship between former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). According to Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez’s camp needs to take partial blame for that characterization.
Pelosi attended Politico’s Sacramento Summit on Tuesday, chatting with senior political columnist Jonathan Martin about the current political landscape. There, Martin brought up Pelosi’s relationship with AOC, saying he’s “sort of curious about your view of her career.”
“Obviously, you had a bit of a rocky start at the outset, but you have a good relationship with her now,” Martin said. “Who does she remind you of, and how do you assess her trajectory in the House over the last eight years?”
“Well, that would be up to her,” Pelosi responded. “When she came, we didn’t have a rocky relationship. Press liked to say it that way, some of her folks — in fact, one of them ran for Congress in San Francisco and lost.”
“You just didn’t mention him, yeah,” Martin responded. You can see the full clip below.
On her relationship with AOC, @SpeakerPelosi said it was never “rocky” but that “some of [AOC’s] folks” and “the press” were to blame for how it was conveyed. More from her chat with @jmart at @POLITICOLive‘s Sacramento Summit
pic.twitter.com/48hw8DbFiM
— POLITICO (@politico) August 11, 2026
Pelosi is seemingly referring to Saikat Chakrabarti, AOC’s former campaign manager and chief of staff. Chakrabarti went on to run for election to the House of Representatives in California’s 11th District in 2026, seeking the seat held by Pelosi, who announced in 2025 that she would not seek reelection. Democrats Connie Chan and Scott Wiener advanced to the general election, while Chakrabarti did not.
While Pelosi denied that there was a rocky relationship between herself and AOC, she went on to explain how her political outlook differs from Ocasio-Cortez’s more outwardly progressive platform.
“All we’re saying to folks: Look, this is a legislative place. It’s not a rally. If you have a rallying cry, take it to the rally, but don’t expect it to become the legislative agenda for people who represent completely different districts,” Pelosi said.
“She learned that, didn’t she?” Martin interjected.
“I say to them, ‘I have those signs in my basement from 30 years ago. All this stuff that you’re talking about, I have those signs in my basement. You want to come see my basement? I have those signs there. All this stuff,’” Pelosi continued. “But the fact is, that was appropriate for me to run for office on and the rest, but when it came to legislation, I didn’t say, ‘This is what I campaigned on, and so if you don’t agree with me, I’m coming after you.’”
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