The Guardian (USA)

AOC says Marjorie Taylor Greene is ‘deeply unwell’ after 2019 video surfaces

- Adam Gabbatt

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said the Republican extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene has a “fixation” on progressiv­e members of Congress, and warned that

Greene’s behavior has “raised concerns” among Democrats.

Greene, a Trump loyalist and a promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, was elected to the House in 2020, and has spent her first months in office harassing Ocasio-Cortez and other progressiv­e Democrats.

Ocasio-Cortez’s warning came after CNN unearthed a video showing her staff being harassed by Greene, then a private citizen, in 2019. The footage shows Greene, accompanie­d by a man who would go on to take part in the

Capitol riot in January this year, shouting through the letterbox of OcasioCort­ez’s congressio­nal office.

“You need to stop being a baby and stop locking your door and come out and face the American citizens that you serve,” Greene says. “If you want to be a big girl, you need to get rid of your diaper and come out and be able to talk to the American citizens. Instead of having to use a flap, a little flap. Sad.”

The video emerged two days after

Greene confronted Ocasio-Cortez outside the House chamber. Greene shouted at the New York congresswo­man and accused her of supporting terrorists.

Ocasio-Cortez told CNN: “This is a woman that’s deeply unwell. And clearly needs help. And her kind of fixation has lasted for several years now. At this point I think the depth has raised concerns for other members as well.”

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

Ocasio-Cortez, along with fellow progressiv­es Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, have been regular targets for rightwing extremists including Greene. In September, when Greene was running for Congress, she posted a Facebook photo of herself holding a gun alongside images of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Tlaib.

“We need strong conservati­ve Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart,” the caption read.

In her 2019 video, which CNN posted online, Greene announces: “We’re going to go see, we’re going to visit, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

She adds: “Crazy eyes. Crazy eyes. Nutty.”

Ocasio-Cortez referenced the video in a tweet, pointing out double standards between the behavior of some Republican­s and that of Democrats.

“And now it’s revealed that this person [Greene] showed up to members of Congress’ doors with folks from the mob who infiltrate­d the Capitol, beat Capitol police and strung up nooses in front of the House,” OcasioCort­ez said.

“If the shoe were on the other foot, the GOP would be calling for my expulsion.”

 ??  ?? A video showing Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s staff at her congressio­nal office in 2019 was released by CNN. Photograph: Jacquelyn
A video showing Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s staff at her congressio­nal office in 2019 was released by CNN. Photograph: Jacquelyn

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