A tense House Oversight Committee meeting on Thursday evening to debate a contempt of Congress resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland turned even more rancorous when Rep. Marjorie Taylor GreeneR-Ga., made it personal to a colleague.
“I don’t think you know what you’re here for. I think your fake eyelashes are ruining what you’re reading,” Greene told Rep. Jasmine CrockettD-Texas, who had challenged Greene on her question about which Democrat was working with Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter.
Greene’s comments prompted immediate criticism from Democrats on the committee, who moved to remove her comments from the record. “How dare you attack someone else’s physical appearance,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told Greene.
“Are your feelings hurt? Aw,” Greene replied. After more back and forth in which Greene challenged Ocasio-Cortez to a debate, Greene told her, “You don’t have enough intelligence.”
Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., ultimately ruled that Greene’s attack on Crockett did not violate House rules against dealing with “personalities” during debates. That decision prompted Crockett to say, “I’m just curious, just to better understand your statement. If someone on this committee then starts talking about someone’s pale blonde, poorly built, stocky body, that wouldn’t be dealing with personalities, correct? Greene agreed to remove her comments about Crockett and Ocasio-Cortez from the record, but she repeatedly refused to apologize. “You will never get an apology from me,” she said at one point.
In recent years, the House Oversight Committee has become what Axios described as “ground zero for partisan clashes.” Its members include some of the most polarizing Republicans in the House of Representatives, and committee members have clashed both inside and outside hearings.
Even by those standards, Thursday night’s conflict, caused and perpetuated by Greene’s goading, was remarkable. Both Crockett and Ocasio-Cortez pointed out Friday morning in particular Greene’s focus on Crockett, the only Black woman on the committee. Across the aisle, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., (no friend of Greene’s himself) urged his colleagues to “treat each other with dignity and respect,” saying that what happened during the hearing earlier happened “not good prospects for Congress.”
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
