Bernie Sanders says Nancy Pelosi is "a little bit" tough on AOC's squad

Sen. Bernie Sanders said on NBC's"Meet the Press" on Sunday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been "a little bit" tough on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her allies.

The big picture: The riff escalated when the speaker criticized the Ocasio-Cortez and three others for having no following in the chamber, only on Twitter. Ocasio-Cortez fired back at Pelosi, accusing her of "singling out" women of color in Congress.

What he said:

SANDERS: Okay. You know, and what Alexandria and other young women and women of color are saying, we have got to reach out to young people. We have to hear the pain of the working class of this country.  And that is causing some political disruption within the leadership of the Democratic Party.  And let me give you one example where I am very concerned.  I have helped lead the effort to expand community health centers.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah.

SANDERS: And right now, there's legislation in the House, the Democratic House, to cut, in real inflation, accounting for dollars, community health centers by 20%.  Unacceptable.  So I ex-- I support, you know, Alexandria's and the other women's desire to bring more people, and especially young people, working-class people into the Democratic Party.  That is the future of the Democratic Party and of this country.

TODD: Do you think the speaker's being too tough on them? 

SANDERS: I think a little bit. ... You cannot ignore the young people of this country who are passionate about economic and racial and social and environmental justice. You got to bring them in, not alienate them.