The continuing saga of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) harassing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) as the latter ignores the former is no longer amusing and may be risky. Greene has been bugging AOC on Twitter for months about having to “debate” her polar-conservative opponent over the Green New Deal. Since MJT was tweeting gibberish and is typically just looking for publicity, AOC chose to ignore Marjorie, which is usually the best way to deal with a troll. Marjorie later admitted that she hadn’t even read the 14-page bill, which is self-evident but also demonstrates her obsession with AOC.
Marjorie had previously accelerated her shenanigans by sharing a posed photo in which she attempted to make it seem as if she and AOC were discussing their debate. That backfired because it seemed as if AOC was caught off guard, but MJT continued to tag AOC on Twitter with a “looking forward to debating you” about the “communist manifesto.” Marjorie, on the other hand, is said to have wanted to move on from one-sided Twitter squabbles to a face-to-face confrontation. According to the Washington Post, it caused quite a stir, as two of their reporters witnessed. The following is a quote from the Washington Post‘s account of the incident:
Two Washington Post reporters witnessed Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) exit the House chamber late Wednesday afternoon ahead of Greene (Ga.), who shouted “Hey Alexandria” twice in an effort to get her attention. When Ocasio-Cortez did not stop walking, Greene picked up her pace and began shouting at her and asking why she supports Antifa, a loosely knit group of far-left activists, and Black Lives Matter, falsely labeling them “terrorist” groups. Greene also shouted that Ocasio-Cortez was failing to defend her “radical socialist” beliefs by declining to publicly debate the freshman from Georgia.
“You don’t care about the American people,” Greene shouted. “Why do you support terrorists and antifa?”
Ocasio-Cortez did not stop to answer Greene, only turning around once and throwing her hands in the air in an exasperated motion. The two reporters were not close enough to hear what the New York congresswoman said, and her office declined to discuss her specific response.
MJT then followed up on her obsessive display of anger with a tweeted claim that she “Just talked to @AOC again.” She then wrote, “You chickened out bc you are too scared to debate me about your Socialist Green New Deal. You are also a hate-America terrorist sympathizer. #JihadSquad.” To make matters even more ridiculous, “Members of Congress do NOT support terrorism & shouldn’t be afraid to debate their legislation.”
Just talked to @AOC again.
You chickened out bc you are too scared to debate me about your Socialist Green New Deal.
You are also a hate-America terrorist sympathizer.#JihadSquad
Members of Congress do NOT support terrorism & shouldn’t be afraid to debate their legislation.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) May 12, 2021
WaPo further reports that AOC (through a spokesperson) is now concerned about security when it comes to Marjorie, and that fear does not sound unwarranted:
Representative Greene attempted to start an argument with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, but as she attempted to walk away, Congresswoman Greene screamed and referred to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez as a terrorist sympathizer. We hope that leadership and the Sergeant at Arms will take concrete measures to ensure that Congress is a secure and civil place for all Members and staff, especially as many offices consider reopening. Due to Congresswoman Greene’s assaults, one Member has already been forced to relocate her office.
Let’s hope for some beefed-up security outside of the House chamber.
