Feud between Ocasio-Cortez, Marjorie Taylor Greene escalates

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “deeply unwell.”

Ms. Greene said Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was “out of control.”

This is how the two congresswomen, who occupy polar extremes on the political spectrum, escalated the feud that erupted early in the week.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat who is better known as AOC and a leader of the liber “Squad,” told reporters at the Capitol that her right-wing foe needs to be seen by a mental health professional.

“I mean, this is a woman that’s deeply unwell and clearly needs some help,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said. “Her kind of fixation has lasted for several years now. You know, it’s at this point I think that the depth of that unwellness has raised concerns for other members, as well.”

She added: “And so, you know, I think that this is an assessment that needs to be made by the proper professional.”

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez later said, “I’m concerned about her perceptions of reality.”

Ms. Greene, a Georgia Republican who is known as MTG, launched a counterattack on Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the Squad.

“They support Antifa, BLM riots. They share the Minnesota freedom fund link to bail out criminals who’ve been arrested after rioting. They support terrorists and Hamas. You’ve got the Jihad squad. You’ve got Ilhan Omar, AOC, Rashida Tlaib, all the rest of them, supporting terrorists, Hamas, that are bombing Israel right now. They support BLM riots, they support violence all over the streets,” Ms. Greene said in a separate interview.

It’s her who has been under attack, Ms. Greene said, making her own allegation against Rep. Marie Newman, Illinois Democrat.

“Marie Newman shoulder checked me right here in this hallway yesterday, right in front of the Capitol Police. I have a witness for that. You got this guy raising money trying to expel me from Congress.”

She also said Rep. Cori Bush, Florida Democrat, attacked her as well. “You’ve got Cori Bush who verbally assaulted me and attacked me in the tunnel, and then played victim and ran to Nancy Pelosi and tried to say I attacked her and then she moved her office. I never talked to the woman, she was screaming at me in the hallway,” Ms. Greene said.

Ms. Bush alleged in May that a maskless Ms. Greene berated her in the hallway of a House office building. Ms. Bush, Missouri Democrat, moved her office away from Ms. Greene’s, citing the security of herself and her staff.

“So everyone needs to ask the real question here, who’s out of control?” Ms. Greene said.

Pat Mullane, a spokesman for Ms. Newman denied the incident occurred. 

“Like nearly every comment, claim and conspiracy that comes out of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s mouth, this is laughably false and frankly absurd,” Mr. Mullane said.

The back-and-forth stems from a report Wednesday that Ms. Greene confronted Ms. Ocasio-Cortez outside the House chamber demanding that she debate her over the far-left Green New Deal proposal for an environmentalist makeover of the economy.

Ms. Greene called out twice, “Hey Alexandria.” When Ms. Ocasio-Cortez did not stop, Ms. Greene picked up her pace and began shouting at her and asking why she supports Antifa, according to a report by The Washington Post,

Ms. Greene also shouted that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a leader of the far-left group of young Congress members known as “The Squad,” was failing to defend her “radical socialist” beliefs by declining to publicly debate her, according to the report.

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

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez did not stop to answer but threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and said something reporters could not hear.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said that Ms. Greene’s actions were out of line and rose to the level that it should prompt an ethics investigation.

On Friday, Ms. Greene also criticized Ms. Ocasio-Cortez for refusing to debate her about the radical environmental proposal.

“So far, she’s been very scared, and she runs away and doesn’t want to talk to anyone, and she doesn’t want to debate her policy,” Ms. Greene said. “She just wants to act like an elite member of Congress and ram socialism on the American people. And so think about how that’s gonna affect your kid’s future. It doesn’t work. Socialism doesn’t work everywhere in the world, you guys. It’s history. It’s easy, look it up.”