What You Need to Know About Marjorie Taylor Greene’s History With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

On Wednesday afternoon, House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was, per The Washington Post, “aggressively confronted” by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) outside the House chamber.

After shouting “Hey, Alexandria!” twice to get Ocasio-Cortez's attention, Greene reportedly continued.

“You don’t care about the American people,” Greene shouted, the Post originally reported. “Why do you support terrorists and Antifa?”

The Post added: “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.”

The Post said that the two reporters who witnessed the interaction were not close enough to hear Ocasio-Cortez's response, but they saw her turn around once and “put her hands up in exasperation.” Per The Hill, Greene called Ocasio-Cortez “a chicken” to reporters following the event.

Ocasio-Cortez’s communications director, Lauren Hitt, said the following in a statement:

“Representative Greene tried to begin an argument with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and when Rep. Ocasio-Cortez tried to walk away, Congresswoman Greene began screaming and called Rep. Ocasio-Cortez ‘a terrorist sympathizer,’” Lauren Hitt, AOC’s communications director, said in the statement. “We hope leadership and the Sergeant at Arms will take real steps to make Congress a safe, civil place for all Members and staff — especially as many offices are discussing reopening. One Member has already been forced to relocate her office due to Congresswoman Greene’s attacks.”

Since the exchange on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out about Greene’s behavior. She told reporters on Capitol Hill that Greene's behavior was similar to what she experienced when she worked as a bartender in New York City.

“I used to work as a bartender. These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time,” Ocasio-Cortez she said, per The Hill. “For me, this isn’t even about how I feel. It’s that I refuse to allow young women, people of color, people who are standing up for what they believe, to see this kind of intimidation attempts by a person who supports white supremacists in our nation’s Capitol.”

Cortez told reporters more about her feelings on the situation.

“This is a woman that’s deeply unwell, um, and clearly needs some help” and added that “her fixation has lasted several years now. At this point, the depth of that unwellness has raised concerns for other members, as well” and continued that “this is an assessment that needs to be made by the proper professionals.” You can watch the full video interview here.

As Ocasio-Cortez referenced in her above quote, this is not the first time an incident like this has occurred. Below, a brief history of Greene’s interactions with her fellow congresswoman.

Following their interaction on Wednesday, Greene tweeted several responses to AOC’s comments

.@AOC you’ve never thrown anyone out of a bar, you’re too scared to talk to anyone,” she wrote on May 13. “You’re too weak & afraid to debate me about your own socialist policy that would plunge your own constituents into poverty. You only know how to hide and play victim.”

She continued:

“.@AOC if you want to be a role model for young women then stop acting like a hate America communist supporting terrorists that want to kill people and destroy our freedoms.

Stop supporting policies that kill jobs, destroy their future, and encourage women to kill their babies.”

She also spoke out against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s assessment that the incident on Wednesday was “verbal assault” and “abuse.” She added “BTW, there was no screaming” at the end of her tweet.

In April, Greene challenged AOC to a debate more than once

On April 14, she tweeted the following in a thread:

“@AOC I’d like to challenge you to a debate on the Green New Deal economic policy. Since you sponsored the Green New Deal and have a degree in Economics, I’m sure you are more than qualified. I just have a degree in Business Admin and have owned a construction company for 20 years.A debate between AOC and I on the Green New Deal economic policy would be informative for the American People.They deserve to hear the two sides with pro’s and cons. @AOC you can choose one moderator and I choose a moderator. Then we can negotiate a major news network to host the debate. Let’s do this for The People. What do you say?”

On April 21, she tweeted this photo of the two of them and wrote,

“I’m glad I ran into you today @AOC to plan our debate about the Green New Deal.After I finish reading all 14 pages, like we agreed, I’ll schedule time for our debate.”

Greene’s interactions with AOC pre-date her time in Congress.

In a since-deleted 2019 Facebook Live video saved by CNN, Greene, who was then a conservative activist, can be seen outside of Ocasio-Cortez's office, speaking through a slot in the mailbox. She tells the congresswoman to “get rid of your diaper” and referred to the office as “daycare” and a “college sorority.”

“We're going to go see, we're going to visit, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crazy eyes. Crazy eyes. Nutty. Cortez,” she says to the camera on her way to the office. She is also heard saying: “We are here peacefully.”

She also says:

“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I’m an American citizen. I pay your salary through the taxes that you collect for me through the IRS because I’m a taxpaying citizen of the United States,” Greene says. “So you need to stop being a baby and stop locking your door and come out and face the American citizens that you serve,” she says. “If you want to be a big girl, you need to get rid of your diaper and come out and be able to talk to the American citizens. Instead of having to use a flap, a little flap. Sad.”

She and her group also left the congresswomen notes. One man said he was writing “socialism sucks.”

The full video of her visit is below:

After CNN published the video, Greene said the following in an email, per CNN: “Members of Congress and all government employees are employed by the taxpayers of this country. Holding the government accountable to the people is what I’ve always believed in.”

CNN notes that one of her associates in the video includes a man named Anthony Aguero, who was seen at the Capitol on January 6.

This post will be updated as the story develops.

You Might Also Like

• 10 Pairs of White Sneakers That Go With Everything

• 50 Surprising Things You Never Knew About 'Sex and the City'

• 20 Serums to Solve All Your Skincare Problems