Trump takes shots at AOC, Ilhan Omar, while defending Pelosi against suggestions of racism

In remarks of a kind you don't necessarily expect to hear from President Donald Trump, the president actually came to the defense of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of his chief political rivals, after Pelosi has faced criticism from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and others in the far-left wing of the party.

President Trump was addressing the recent conflict between the Democratic establishment and the progressive wing, which resulted in Ocasio-Cortez accusing Pelosi of singling out "newly-elected women of color."

"I'll tell you something about Nancy Pelosi that you know better than I do, she is not a racist, okay?" Trump said Friday. "She is not a racist. For them to call her a racist is a disgrace.

"I don't think Nancy can let that go on. A group of people that came...I don't know where they came from," Trump continued.

For the record, despite the strong implication of racism in her comment to the Washington Post, Ocasio-Cortez has since said that she does not believe Pelosi is racist, according to CNN.

Although Trump called Ocasio-Cortez's words to Pelosi "very disrespectful," respect is not how one would classify the president's typical way of speaking about the Democratic leader. Trump has called Pelosi "nasty," "horrible," "a mess," and "crazy," in recent months.

The president also had some words for another new progressive Democrat, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who is closely allied with Ocasio-Cortez.

"If one-half of the things they're saying about her are true, she shouldn't even be in office," Trump said.

Omar countered with an "I know you are, but what am I"-style response by saying "If one-tenth of what they say about you is true, you shouldn't be in office...next."