Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she's used to people like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who confronted her earlier this week outside the House chamber, from her days as a New York City bartender.
"These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time," the New York Democrat told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday, a day after Greene, R-Ga., shouted at her while the two left the House floor, reports The Hill.
“For me, this isn't even about how I feel," Ocasio-Cortez said. "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."
Greene is being criticized by Democrats after reports from two Washington Post reporters that she had repeatedly yelled "Hey, Alexandria" at the New Yorker, who didn't stop when Greene addressed her.
The Georgia lawmaker also reportedly shouted comments at Ocasio-Cortez for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, which Greene called a "terrorist" group, and "Antifa."
Greene also, after Ocasio-Cortez left, called the Democrat lawmaker a "chicken" and a "radical socialist" who refused to "debate the Green New Deal."
Greene denied that her behavior was aggressive, and ridiculed Ocasio-Cortez for saying she threw people like her out of bars.
"So she throws out paying customers. Is that how she feels? She throws out paying customers, is what she's saying?” Greene said. “You know, it would be nice if they would treat us civilly. But ever since Jan. 6, they can't even treat us with respect. And we were just as much as victims of the riot here, too. We didn't cause it. All these lies that they say on and on and on. You know, they need to be civil. None of them are civil to me."
Greene also insisted that she was telling Ocasio-Cortez that "you need to debate me, you need to defend your policy," she added. "There is nothing wrong with that."
After the confrontation, Ocasio-Cortez's office has said it has concerns about security for members of Congress and staff.
“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,” Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the New York lawmaker's office, told The Post.
Ocasio-Cortez's fellow Democrats are using the confrontation to push for Greene to be disciplined.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Greene's words a "verbal assault" and said the situation could end up being discussed by the House Ethics Committee, as Greene's behavior was "so beyond the pale of anything that is in keeping with bringing honor to the House.”
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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