Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes after Nancy Pelosi: 'We won't let everyday people be dismissed'

Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) greets Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) before a ceremonial swearing-in picture on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 3, 2019.

• Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a tweet on Monday, which came after her chief of staff attacked the Democratic leader in a series of tweets over the weekend. 
• "Having respect for ourselves doesn't mean we lack respect for her. It means we won't let everyday people be dismissed," Ocasio-Cortez said.
• Ocasio-Cortez and Pelosi have disagreed on an array of issues, particularly whether to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday went after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Twitter, escalating a public spat between the Democratic leader and the freshman Democrat's office. 

Ocasio-Cortez in a tweet cited several quotes from Pelosi that have been portrayed as veiled critiques of the young lawmaker, stating, "Those aren't quotes from me; they're from the Speaker. Having respect for ourselves doesn't mean we lack respect for her. It means we won't let everyday people be dismissed."

Pelosi's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER. 

Ocasio-Cortez's Monday tweet came after her chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, went after Pelosi over a New York Times op-ed that cited the speaker criticizing Ocasio-Cortez and other younger, left-leaning Democrats who are new to Congress.  

Read more: AOC's chief of staff slams Pelosi on Twitter over op-ed controversy: 'Pelosi is just mad that she got outmaneuvered (again)'

In reference to Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Presley, Pelosi said, "All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world, but they didn't have any following. They're four people and that's how many votes they got."

Subsequently, Chakrabarti tweeted, "All these articles want to claim what a legislative mastermind Pelosi is, but I'm seeing way more strategic smarts from freshman members [...] Pelosi is just mad that she got outmaneuvered (again) by Republicans."

Ocasio-Cortez and Pelosi have disagreed on an array of issues, particularly whether to launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. The progressive firebrand has at times sought to show a unified front with Pelosi, but has not shied away from making it known when they don't see eye-to-eye.