Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to meet next week

After Ocasio-Cortez and three other progressive freshmen known as “the squad” opposed a House border aid bill, Pelosi downplayed their influence within the House Democratic caucus, telling The New York Times, “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” but adding, “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

“That public ‘whatever’ is called public sentiment,” Ocasio-Cortez fired back on Twitter. “And wielding the power to shift it is how we actually achieve meaningful change in this country.”

“I think overall it’s to have a more open-ended conversation and see what we can do to come together on strategy. Certainly immigration is a part of that conversation,” she said.

The New York Democrat also defended her opposition to the border aid bill Sunday, saying in part that the legislation “wasn’t humanitarian.”

“I’ll be very honest, I got heat from my own party for that — for making that point. But if we really want to pass a humanitarian bill then let’s make a humanitarian bill and if it’s not a humanitarian bill then don’t call it a humanitarian bill. It’s a border militarization bill,” she said.

House Democrats did unify this week, however, in denouncing President Donald Trump’s racist attacks on Ocasio-Cortez along with the three other progressive Democratic freshmen congresswomen of color — Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.

Pelosi rushed to the defense of the four congresswomen after the President over the weekend used racist language to attack them, suggesting that they should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”