Pelosi vs. AOC

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has issued a surprisingly scathing attack on the gutsy crew of progressive freshmen women in the House of Representatives, dismissing them as a tiny squad who have a “public whatever,” but no backing in Congress.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) shot back on Twitter later saying that the “public whatever” is public sentiment.” She added: “Wielding the power to shift it is how we actually achieve meaningful change in this country.”

Pelosi’s harsh comments followed a quote from a spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez in a Washington Post op ed  Friday that the “greatest threat to mankind is the cowardice of the Democratic Party.” The young squad of Pelosi critics also includes Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

Pelosi attacked the women in an interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd published Saturday as she defended herself against criticism (including in the Huffpost story “What The Hell Is Nancy Pelosi Doing?”) that she’s caving into the Republicans.

She has come under particular attack for her push to pass the Senate Republican bill (instead of the House version) increasing border funds without humanitarian guarantees for detained immigrants, particularly children.

Pelosi insisted that the bill — which the squad of four voted against — was the strongest she could get.

“All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” Pelosi said, referring to the women. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

She blamed the shortcomings of the border bill on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whom she described as “authentically terrible.”

“With all due respect, the press likes to make a story that is more about Democrats divided than the fact that Mitch McConnell doesn’t care about the children,’’ she said.

“If the left doesn’t think I’m left enough, so be it,” Pelosi concluded defiantly. “As I say to these people, come to my basement. I have these signs about single-payer from 30 years ago. I understand what they’re saying. But we have a responsibility to get something done, which is different from advocacy. We have to have a solution, not just a Twitter fight.”

Check out Dowd’s full interview here.