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'Verbal assault': Pelosi denounces Marjorie Taylor Greene's AOC confrontation

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for her "verbal assault" and "abuse" of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in the hallway outside the House chamber Wednesday.

"It's so beyond the pale of anything that is in keeping with bringing honor to the House," Pelosi said during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that two of its reporters witnessed Greene "aggressively confront" Ocasio-Cortez as she was exiting the chamber, falsely accusing the New York Democrat of supporting "terrorist" groups such as Black Lives Matter and antifa.

A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez confirmed the encounter to the Post, saying in a statement that Greene "tried to begin an argument," and that when Ocasio-Cortez tried to walk away, the Georgia Republican freshman "began screaming and called Rep. Ocasio-Cortez a terrorist sympathizer."

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“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," Lauren Hitt, AOC's spokeswoman, added.

On Twitter, Greene mocked Ocasio-Cortez's concern for her safety.

Pelosi said the incident was reported to her office and believes it is "probably a matter for the Ethics Committee."

"This is beneath the dignity of a person serving in the Congress of the United States," Pelosi said. "And it is a cause of trauma and fear among members."

Greene, who has supported the QAnon conspiracy theory in the past and has a long history of making racist comments, was elected to the House in November.

In February, the House voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments after Republican leadership failed to punish her embrace of bizarre conspiracy theories and apparent endorsement of violence against Democrats.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters (2), Jeenah Moon/Reutes)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters [2], Jeenah Moon/Reuters) (REUTERS)

Posts on Greene’s Facebook account, unearthed after she took office, showed that she had expressed support for the baseless conspiracy theory that school shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Parkland, Fla., were staged. And in one Facebook post from 2019, she liked a comment that said a “bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove Pelosi as House speaker.

At the time, Greene insisted that her conspiratorial views were a thing of the past.

“These were words of the past and these things do not represent me,” she said before blaming the media for distorting her views, equating the press corps to QAnon and casting herself as a victim of “cancel culture.” She did not offer an apology.

Greene has also cashed in on those controversies, reportedly raising more than $3 million for her reelection campaign during the first quarter of this year.

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