NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday called for more steps to be taken to ensure that Congress remains a “safe, civil place" following a confrontation with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested could result in an ethics complaint against the Georgia Republican.
Her calls follow a Washington Post report that notes Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, was aggressively confronted by Greene.
According to the report, two Post reporters witnessed Greene chase after Ocasio-Cortez as she exited the House chamber late Wednesday afternoon. They say the New York congresswoman did not stop walking as Greene shouted after her, asking the Democrat why she supports Antifa and Black Lives Matter, which Greene falsely labeled a “terrorist” group.
Greene also reportedly told Ocasio-Cortez that she was not defending her “radical socialist” beliefs by refusing to engage.
Ocasio-Cortez reportedly only turned around once to “throw her hands in the air in an exasperated motion,” the Post reports. The reporters were not close enough to hear if Ocasio-Cortez said anything.
The Georgia Republican then turned to a group of nearby reporters, according to the Post, and called Ocasio-Cortez a “chicken” for not wanting to debate.
A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez later told the paper that Greene was trying to “begin an argument.”
“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,” the spokeswoman said.
Pelosi later responded to the incident calling it a “verbal assault,” and saying it was a matter that could be taken up with the Ethics Committee.
“This is beneath the dignity of a person serving in the Congress of the United States and is a cause for trauma and fear among members,” Pelosi told reporters. “[The Republican caucus] should exercise some – discipline is not the word – respectable behavior standard for them; but it could be that this would rise to the level of an ethics complaint.”
Greene has already been stripped of her committee assignments, because of her incendiary comments.
She was also criticized for putting up an anti-transgender flag outside her office. A congresswoman across the hall from Greene has a transgender daughter.