‘Don’t Come for Me’: Rep. Crockett Explains Clash With Greene
Texas Democrat defended herself against personal attack
The Texas congresswoman at the heart of last week’s chaotic late-night House hearing explained why she responded when far-right Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene personally disparaged her.
Meanwhile, a political analyst described Republicans turning the House into a “hostile workplace.”
A House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing devolved into chaos Thursday night as Georgia Republican and Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) clashed after Greene took a personal swipe at Crockett (D-Texas) for wearing “fake eyelashes.”
In doing so, Greene flouted House rules prohibiting one member of Congress from making personal attacks against another.
The comment — which was made during a markup to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress — prompted nearly an hour of disorder in the committee, with lawmakers screaming over one another and hurling insults left and right, leaving Chairman James Comer (R-Ky) struggling to maintain order.
“‘Don’t come for me.’ That is all that I need to tell her,” Crockett said Saturday in a television appearance. “We showed up ready to work but we could not have our hearing at 11:00, even though this was a hearing, and ridiculous we needed to have it. We showed up.
“They are in the majority and they set the agenda, this is what they believe is a priority for the American people. They decided they would skip work and go to New York to be involved in the trial of Donald Trump,” she added. “We get back at 8:00 P.M. And, instead of focusing on what the task at hand was, whether or not Merrick Garland would be held in contempt of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene started talking about the judge in the case, and I asked her, ‘Do you know why we are here?’ It devolved and the chairman broke the agreement he had made with her to be – her words taken down, which meant she would have to leave the committee which would have helped everybody. He decided to change his ruling.”
Democrats, like Crockett, serving in the House are subject are subjected to what amounts to a “hostile workplace,” explained political analyst Juanita Tolliver.
“Well, first Rev, I got to say that I hate that Rep Crockett and all Democrats have to work in such a hostile workplace with someone like Rep Greene, and that’s what precipitated this entire exchange, but there are a couple of things about this interaction I think are noteworthy,” Tolliver told the Rev Al Sharpton in an appearance on his MSNBC program. “First, Rep Crockett was not out there alone. I appreciate that Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was there to support her, call out the rules, call out the violation from Marjorie Taylor Greene immediately. I appreciate that.
“Rep Raskin was there to also support her in that moment but also continued that support, unlike some other white male Democrats who decided to engage in something that had absolutely nothing to do with them,” Tolliver added.
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