During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday night, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia sparked chaos by insulting Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas. This led to a heated exchange between the two representatives, which quickly garnered widespread condemnation on social media.
Both conservatives and liberals were appalled by the exchange between the congresswomen, in which they resorted to insulting each other’s personal appearances. The derogatory remarks about “fake eyelashes” and a “bleach blond, bad-built butch body” were seen as inappropriate and unbecoming of members of Congress.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene, my opponent, has transformed Congress into a circus solely for the purpose of gaining media attention. This is not surprising news, but her actions have now become personal,” expressed Shawn Harris, a Democrat candidate for Congress, on X, previously referred to as Twitter. “MTG has demonstrated a complete disregard for dignity. Each day, she continues to humiliate the residents of Northwest Georgia.”
Conservative social media user Paul A. Szypula expressed his astonishment at Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s recent behavior in Congress. According to him, Crockett had an intense outburst, shouting and behaving aggressively, even resorting to using curse words. Szypula specifically highlighted Crockett’s response to Greene’s initial insult, which he deemed as unwarranted.
During the committee’s deliberation on whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to provide audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, a Georgia Republican posed a question to the Democrats present. He inquired if any of them employed Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter.
Loren Merchan, who is presiding over the hush money trial of Donald Trump in New York, has faced relentless criticism from Republicans due to his daughter’s employment. Loren Merchan is employed at a progressive digital strategies firm and served as the digital director for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign. Republicans, including Trump, argue that this indicates Merchan’s bias against the former president, who is currently facing numerous challenges.
Merchan has consistently denied the accusations and refused Trump’s request for him to step down.
During the Oversight Committee markup on Thursday, the topic discussed was unrelated. However, it comes as no surprise that Greene, a staunch supporter of Trump and a firm Republican, would raise this issue. Throughout the years, she has been known to propagate various QAnon conspiracy theories.
Crockett, a Democrat hailing from Missouri, has been serving the Dallas and Tarrant Counties since 2023. She made it clear that the discussion at hand was unrelated to the hearing. Crockett turned to Greene and questioned, “Do you understand the purpose of our presence here?”
The Georgia Republican fired back at his opponent, saying, “I believe you’re not aware of why you’re here… It seems like your fake eyelashes are distracting you from understanding the content.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York quickly stepped in, reprimanding Greene for her behavior: “That is completely unacceptable. How can you stoop so low as to attack someone’s physical appearance?” she exclaimed.
Greene stood her ground, challenging Ocasio-Cortez about her emotional response. Newsweek reached out to Greene’s spokesperson and Crockett’s office via email for a comment on Friday.
During the proceedings, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer requested that she have her words recorded, and she ultimately agreed to comply. However, she remained steadfast in her decision not to apologize to Crockett.
During the hearing, a significant number of Republicans supported Greene’s right to continue speaking, while Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado joined forces with the Democrats to silence Greene for the remainder of the markup. This vote highlights the ongoing division between the two Republican factions, indicating that their differences have yet to be resolved.
Crockett sought clarification from Comer regarding his ruling after the vote. He asked, “I’m just curious, just to better understand your ruling. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blond, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?” It seemed that Crockett’s comment was a thinly veiled remark about Greene’s physical appearance.
