Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) told the New York Times that Democrats “don’t respect people that work for a living” after she introduced table-saw legislation countering a Consumer Product Safety Commission rule that would increase the price of table saws.
Gluesenkamp Perez is the co-chairwoman of the Blue Dog Coalition, a centrist Democratic caucus, and her comment comes as she found herself frustrated with some Democratic-involved political actions, such as forgiving student loans, that don’t help her working-class constituents.
She also accused Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who identified with the working class, of working for ideas, not people.
“It’s not just your personal experience,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “It’s who you view as your constituency. Like, who are you there for? Are you there working for ideas? Or are you there working for people?”
Gluesenkamp Perez continued her explanation.
“If you’re working for ideas, you are much more vulnerable to sort of activist capture than if you have the nuance of individual people,” she continued. “And people that work for a living are very diverse, and most of them are not socialists.”
She also refused to be a “working-class pet” as if she was “an undercover AOC,” as others had painted her as, with some even believing her to be a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
“But that’s not who I am,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “Some people are like, ‘She doesn’t really think that, does she?’ And I’m like, ‘I do actually think that.'”
She has voted in favor of a Republican bill prohibiting the federal government from banning gas stoves and for legislation repealing President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. Her stance on the president is murky, and she has made very few statements on Biden.
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Gluesenkamp Perez is involved in a heated House race against Republicans Joe Kent and Leslie Lewallen in a district that is rated a “Democrat toss-up” by Cook Political Report and voted for Trump 51% to 47% in 2020.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Gluesenkamp Perez’s office for comment but did not receive a response.