House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chastised Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her “verbal assault” of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and said the Republican’s “egregious” behavior may rise to the level of an ethics violation.
Two Washington Post reporters witnessed Greene, R-Ga., aggressively confront Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., outside the House chamber on Wednesday, and Pelosi said the incident was reported to her office. Pelosi called Greene’s conduct a “verbal assault” and “abuse of our colleague.”
“It’s so beyond the pale of anything that is in keeping with bringing honor to the House, or not bringing dishonor to the House,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday of Greene’s conduct. “It’s so beyond the pale that … it probably is a matter for the Ethics Committee.”
The Washington Post reported that Greene called out to Ocasio-Cortez as they left the House chamber late Wednesday afternoon. When the progressive Democrat kept walking, Greene reportedly picked up her pace and began shouting at her about supporting Antifa and Black Lives Matter. Greene also brought up her desire to debate Ocasio-Cortez about her “radical socialist” beliefs, the paper said.
“You don’t care about the American people,” Greene shouted, the Post reported. “Why do you support terrorists and Antifa?”
Ocasio-Cortez never stopped to talk, but at one point turned around to throw “her hands in the air in an exasperated motion,” the paper reported. Her office then called on House leadership to take action to ensure members are safe, especially after Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., already moved her office away from Greene’s citing “safety” concerns following a dustup in January. (Greene says the confrontation with Bush in a hallway was the result of Bush instigating it).
“We hope leadership and the Sergeant at Arms will take real steps to make Congress a safe, civil place for all Members and staff,” Lauren Hitt, spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez, told Fox News.
Greene told Fox News she never screamed at Ocasio-Cortez. “That’s a lie,” she said.
In a series of tweets Thursday, Greene said Ocasio-Cortez is “afraid” of debating her about the Green New Deal and the New York Democrat should be the one investigated by the Ethics Committee.
Actually, @SpeakerPelosi the Ethics Commitee should look into @AOC for putting Trump admin staff and supporters on lists to destroy their lives and prevent future employment.
She threatened the livelihoods of Americans for simply being Republicans.
BTW, there was no screaming. https://t.co/POMiJ4phNe
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) May 13, 2021