Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to meet next week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have been working to schedule a one-on-one sit-down, will meet on Thursday of next week, a spokesman for Pelosi confirmed to CNN.

Posted 7:13 p.m. Jul 19, 2019 — Updated 7:13 p.m. Jul 19, 2019

Clare Foran

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Ashley Killough, CNN

CNN — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who have been working to schedule a one-on-one sit-down, will meet on Thursday of next week, a spokesman for Pelosi confirmed to CNN.

The meeting comes after a high-profile clash between Pelosi and the freshman Democratic congresswoman from New York.

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."

House Democrats unified, however, this week 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."

The House voted to condemn the comments this week.

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