Watch this resurfaced clip of Marjorie Taylor Greene yelling at AOC through a mail slot
It's been quite a week for freshman Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, arguably the single most notorious Republican member of the House, thanks to her unwavering commitment to being absolutely bonkers, all of the time.
Just hours after Republicans voted to oust Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from the party's leadership in favor of the GOP's more Trump-worshiping wing, that faction's most visible member, Greene, allegedly accosted New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just outside the House chamber on Wednesday. According to witnesses, Greene shouted "Hey Alexandria" and then began to barrage her colleague from New York with allegations of being a "terrorist" sympathizer who was too afraid to debate "radical socialist" politics.
"She's a chicken," Greene told reporters shortly thereafter. "She doesn't want to debate."
Disturbing as getting screamed at by a gun-toting, conspiracy-theorizing, insurrection-aiding maniac might be, Greene's behavior toward Ocasio-Cortez was rendered even more alarming by the revelation that prior to becoming a congresswoman, Greene had stalked AOC at her congressional office.
In deleted Facebook Live footage discovered by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, Greene and some compatriots — including Jan. 6 insurrectionist Anthony Aguero — are seen harassing the congresswoman through the mail slot of her's congressional office door in 2019.
At one point, one of the people Greene is with mocks Ocasio-Cortez, saying, "You can't stay in there forever. Come out and play." The language is eerily reminiscent of that which was used later during the Jan. 6 insurrection. When the group left Ocasio-Cortez's office, Greene was filmed exclaiming "bye-bye, little baby girl."
Wednesday's incident, coupled with the revelation of her previous instances of harassment, have brought renewed scrutiny to whether Greene is a fit — much less capable — person to serve in Congress.
"It's at this point, I think, the depth of that unwellness has raised concerns for other members, as well," Ocasio-Cortez said Friday after the 2019 footage was resurfaced. "I'm concerned about her perceptions of reality."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Thursday that Greene's behavior might warrant a congressional investigation, calling it "beneath the dignity of a person serving in the Congress of the United States" and "a cause for trauma and fear among members."
The concern over Greene was apparently not limited to Democrats, either, with Punchbowl News's Jake Sherman claiming he'd heard worries over the congresswoman's behavior and mental state "from members on both sides of the aisle."
Still, it's Democrats who have largely faced the brunt of Greene's erratic behavior — and not simply from the congresswoman herself, but from those in her orbit, as well.
On Friday morning, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) confirmed reports that Greene's spokesman Nick Dyer had accosted him at the House over Swalwell's choice to wear a mask. According to The Hill's Scott Wong, Swalwell confronted Dyer by saying "You don't tell me what to fucking do!"
"No one should be bullied for wearing a mask. So I told the bully what I thought of his order," Swalwell wrote on Twitter, referencing Wong's report. "Predictably, he went speechless. I regret I wasn't more explicit."
All told, it seems clear that rather than be chastened by her removal from her various committee posts, Greene has instead felt empowered to simply act however she likes, toward whomever she likes, and has given her staff license to do the same. The question now becomes: Will the House actually do something about it, or is this simply the new normal?
