Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is "brilliant" and Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar are "really smart" but their left-wing stance makes them the exceptions among Democrats, not the party normal, former vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in an interview airing Tuesday.
"If you listen to the guys and women in your business, they say, 'That's the majority of people who got elected," Biden told MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski on Monday. "We need that kind of energy, but that's not the majority of Democrats who got elected last time.”
His comments came after President Donald Trump slammed them in tweets, where he told them to go to their home countries, and later in the day when he said if they don't like the United States, they should leave.
Biden said he would not "presume" to offer the four outspoken congresswomen any advice, but pointed out that most Democrats who won in 2018 were more moderate than their media coverage shows.
He also said he believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been "masterful" with how she handles the Democratic caucus and its four controversial freshman members.
"That doesn't mean I don't respect (them)," said Biden. "I think the freshmen, particularly AOC, is smart as hell. Really bright, and really a value added to the party in terms of her pushing the edges and pushing and pushing."
Pelosi, though, "knows what she's doing. Nancy understands that there's a sum total in the Congress of 535 folks. You have to get them all moving in the right direction. I mean it's ironic, I heard someone criticize Nancy for not being liberal enough."