Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she felt “threatened” by Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., after the two were seen shouting at each other on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
“He was aggressive, his physical mannerisms were aggressive,” Greene told reporters during an unrelated press conference on Thursday, a day after their confrontation. “I am concerned about it. I feel threatened by him.”
Bowman called Green’s comments “incredibly dangerous and incredibly reckless.”
“This country has a history of characterizing Black men who are outspoken, who stand their ground, who push back as being threatening or intimidating,” he told reporters. “So she’s not even using g a dog whistle. She’s using a bullhorn.”
What happened outside the Capitol?
The shouting match began after embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., told reporters he won’t resign from Congress following House Republicans successfully quashed an effort by Democrats to have him expelled. Bowman then shouted at Santos, which led to an argument between Bowman and Greene.
“Expel him,” Bowman told Greene. “Save the party. The [Republican] party is hanging by a thread.”
Greene responded by saying that President Biden should be the one to leave office.
“We’ve got to get rid of Biden and save the country,” Greene said.
Both members of Congress were soon shouting at each other about other partisan issues, including gun control and immigration. About a minute later, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., intervened, telling Bowman, “She ain’t worth it, bro. She ain’t worth it.”
What happened outside Trump’s arraignment?
Greene said that Bowman “has a history of aggression,” claiming the Democratic congressman “led a mob” of counterprotesters who surrounded her last month during a demonstration outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump was arraigned on federal criminal charges.
“Jamaal Bowman led a mob down there in front of that courthouse and my life was in danger,” said the far-right Georgia Republican — who was removed from her committee assignments by Democrats in 2021 for her embrace of QAnon-inspired conspiracy theories and endorsement of violence against then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“I had to have so much security,” she continued. “There was not enough. I was swarmed.”
As Greene was escorted from the protest by her security detail, Bowman shouted, “Get the hell out of here!”
“I was born and raised in New York City. This is the city that I love. It’s a city that’s focused on hard work and love of all people,” Bowman told reporters. “We will never accept hateful rhetoric in our city, any rhetoric that is divisive, any rhetoric that uplifts white supremacy. We are pushing back against that in all of its forms. Marjorie Taylor Greene needs to take her ass back to Washington.”
Greene says she’s offended by ‘white supremacist’ label
Greene, who in 2022 spoke at an event organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes, said she was offended that Bowman suggested she was a “white supremacist.”
“I take great offense to that,” she said. “It is like calling a person of color the N-word, which should never happen.”
Greene said she was also irked by Bowman telling her to save her party.
“We shouldn’t care about political parties. We should care about the country because no matter what our political beliefs are — Jamaal Bowman, I don’t know what his political beliefs are — I know what mine are,” she said. “But we both swore an oath to serve the country here in Congress as representatives. So I am very concerned about Jamaal Bowman and he’s someone that people should watch.”
Bowman once called for Greene’s expulsion from Congress
Greene — an election denier who has often complained about the treatment of those arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol — said in December that had she “organized it, we would have won,” adding “it would’ve been armed.”
Bowman responded by calling for her to be expelled from Congress.
“Sometimes what this person says is so outrageous that I don’t even want to respond. But I have to respond to this,” Bowman said in a video posted to Twitter. “When we are elected to Congress, we take an oath to protect the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic. Marjorie Taylor Greene is an enemy of the Constitution and of our country and she should be expelled from Congress.”
