共和党众议员史蒂夫·斯卡利斯声称国会女议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯及其盟友已经有效地控制了民主党，将核心小组推到了无法识别的激进位置。
在福克斯新闻上讲话周四，斯卡利斯暗示众议院议长南希·佩洛西已经失去了对民主党的控制，将影响力让给了该党2018年中期选举胜利所支撑的左翼派别。
他声称，这是佩洛西决定开始弹劾唐纳德·特朗普总统的原因。
奥卡西奥-科尔特斯是去年的候选人之一，自从罢免前众议院民主党党团主席乔·克劳利以来，这位30岁的人已经成为党内最突出的进步声音之一。尽管奥卡西奥-科尔特斯仍在她的第一个任期内，但她被认为是未来的政党领袖。
当被问及佩洛西为何决定开始弹劾特朗普时，斯卡利斯周四表示，“该党的美国在线组织发生了变化，并真正开始控制她的核心小组。”
佩洛西起初对弹劾总统犹豫不决，暗示她只会在面对压倒性证据和两党支持的情况下开始诉讼。但是总统与乌克兰的丑闻促使议长在没有共和党支持的情况下提交弹劾文章。
“不再是南希·佩洛西说了算，我认为任何追随她被迫做的事情的人，大多是党内最左翼的社会主义者，”他补充道。
奥卡西奥-科尔特斯和她的盟友与佩洛西发生冲突在民主党政策上，尽管议长已经能够避免一些观察家预测的那种深刻的党派分裂或进步政变。
尽管如此，党内的左翼分子帮助改变了某些领域的政策对话，使民主党在医疗保健、气候变化和财富再分配等问题上偏离了中心立场。
“不仅仅是佩洛西——你可以看到美国奥委会在塑造总统辩论，”斯卡利斯继续说道，并引用了“像绿色协议和其他一些疯狂政策”这样的领域
他补充道，“他们把总统候选人推向社会主义左派，以至于你甚至认不出他们，”斯卡利斯声称。
这位国会议员说，候选人“向他们基础中最激进的部分磕头，而不是专注于面包和黄油问题——那些让他们获得多数席位的东西。”
他声称，现在民主党人关注的是“他们自己的权力和他们对总统的仇恨”
民主党总统候选人中最雄心勃勃的左翼政策来自参议员伯尼·桑德斯和参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦等候选人，早在奥卡西奥-科尔特斯崭露头角之前，他们都在希尔工作过。
奥卡西奥-科尔特斯在桑德斯2016年的连任竞选中担任组织者，并把这位佛蒙特州参议员视为一个重要的政治影响力。奥卡西奥-科尔特斯已经正式支持桑德斯获得2020年民主党提名。
对于像奥卡西奥-科尔特斯和桑德斯这样的人物的所有支持，更多激进的总统候选人仍在努力改革代表党内中间派情绪的前副总统乔·拜登——印第安纳州南本德市市长皮特·巴蒂吉格也是如此。
斯卡利斯——以及许多其他共和党议员——此前曾声称像奥卡西奥-科尔特斯这样的人物的崛起证明了这一点。”没有温和派了“在民主党。”实际上，这是自由主义者对社会主义者的较量，社会主义者正在获胜，”他今年早些时候说。
这位路易斯安那州的国会议员还抨击了奥卡西奥-科尔特斯提出的增税建议，声称她和她的盟友希望从美国人那里获得更多的钱用于“左派幻想项目”
作为回应，奥卡西奥-科尔特斯建议斯卡利斯不明白边际税率是如何运作的。她补充道，“哦，没错，差点忘了:共和党为公司首席执行官们工作，他们给自己发放了数百万[元的奖金；而不是那些工资和医疗保健被他们榨取利润的实际劳动者。”
2019年12月21日，加利福尼亚州洛杉矶威尼斯海滩附近，亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯在民主党总统候选人伯尼·桑德斯的集会上讲话。
PELOSI HAS LOST CONTROL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO AOC AND THE 'LUNATIC' LEFT, SCALISE SAYS
Republican Representative Steve Scalise has claimed that congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her allies have effectively seized control of the Democratic Party, pushing the caucus into radical positions that make it unrecognizable.
Speaking on Fox News on Thursday, Scalise suggested that House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi has lost control of the Democrats, ceding influence to the leftist faction that was buoyed by the party's 2018 midterm election victory.
This, he claimed, was the driver between Pelosi's decision to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez was among last year's intake, and since unseating former House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, the 30-year-old has become one of the most prominent progressive voices within the party. Though still in her first term, Ocasio-Cortez has been tipped as a future party leader.
Asked why Pelosi decided to begin the impeachment of Trump, Scalise said Thursday, "The AOC wing of the party changed and really started controlling her caucus."
Pelosi was initially hesitant about impeaching the president, suggesting she would only begin proceedings in the face of overwhelming evidence and bipartisan support. But the scandal over the president's dealings with Ukraine prompted the speaker to file impeachment articles without Republican support.
"It's no longer Nancy Pelosi calling the shots and I think that anybody who follows the things that she's been forced into doing, it's been mostly that far left socialist wing of the party," he added.
Ocasio-Cortez and her allies have clashed with Pelosi over Democratic policy, though the speaker has been able to avoid the kind of profound party split or progressive coup that some observers had predicted.
Nonetheless, the left-wingers within the party have helped shift the policy conversation in some areas, moving the Democrats away from the center ground on issues like health care, climate change and wealth redistribution.
"And it's not just Pelosi—you see AOC shaping the presidential debates," Scalise continued, citing areas "like the green deal and some of the other lunatic policies."
He added, "They are pushing the presidential candidates so far to the socialist left that you can't even recognize them," Scalise claimed.
The congressman said the candidates are "kowtowing to that most radical element of their base instead of focusing on the bread and butter issues—the things that got them the majority."
Now, he claimed, the Democrats are focused on "their own power and their hatred against the president."
The most ambitious leftist policies among the Democratic presidential hopefuls have come from candidates like Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, both of whom were working on the Hill long before Ocasio-Cortez came to prominence.
Ocasio-Cortez worked for Sanders as an organizer in his 2016 re-election campaign and has cited the Vermont senator as an important political influence. Ocasio-Cortez has officially endorsed Sanders for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
For all the support for figures like Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, more radical presidential candidates are still battling to overhaul former Vice President Joe Biden, who represents the centrist sentiment within the party—as does South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Scalise—along with many other Republican lawmakers—has previously claimed that the rise of figures like Ocasio-Cortez prove there are "no moderates left" in the Democratic Party. "It's, literally, liberals versus socialists and the socialists are winning," he said earlier this year.
The Louisiana congressman has also attacked Ocasio-Cortez for proposing tax increases, claiming she and her allies want to take more money from Americans to spend on "leftist fantasy programs."
In response, Ocasio-Cortez suggested Scalise did not understand how marginal tax rates work. She added, "Oh that's right, almost forgot: GOP works for the corporate CEOs showering themselves in multi-million [dollar] bonuses; not the actual working people whose wages + healthcare they're ripping off for profit."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in the Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on December 21, 2019.
