Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas told The Independent that fellow Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts almost stood up to defend her after right-wing firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked her on the House floor.
Last month, the House Oversight Committee blew up during the markup of a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. At one point Greene mocked Crockett’s “fake eyelashes.”
That prompted Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the number-two Democrat on the committee, to call Greene’s remarks “disgusting” and “unacceptable since it was considered a personal attack and a breach in decorum.” When Greene asked Ocasio-Cortez if Greene had hurt her feelings, Ocasio-Cortez replied, “Oh girl, oh baby girl, don’t even play.”
In response, Crockett had a viral moment when she asked Chairman James Comer: “If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blonde, bad-built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?” in response to Greene. Greene would later respond to Crockett by saying: “Yes my body is built and strong NOT with nips, tucks, plastic, or silicone, but through a healthy lifestyle.”
But Crockett told The Independent in an interview to be released later this week that other dynamics were at play.
“When AOC jumped in so quickly, what people didn’t see off camera was that Ayanna Pressley was ready to jump in and stood up and… it was gonna get into a fight,” Crockett told The Independent.
She also said that Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, similarly defended her. When Greene first made her attack, Raskin reportedly said, “That’s beneath even you, Ms Greene.”
“They have no idea that Raskin as well was in the middle of this and we weren’t going back and forth with Comer,” Crockett, a freshman Democrat, said.
Ocasio-Cortez for her part praised Crockett’s skills in Congress.
“I think that Congresswoman Crockett does bring that prosecutorial legal eye, that is both vocal and I think marries her legal and professional expertise, with an ability to break it down for everyday people, which I think is a profound a great asset,” she told The Independent.
Crockett said that she appreciated having a communities of women of color on the committee.
“The bigger story that kind of emerged from this was what women of color face at work,” she said. “When you’re by yourself, people take liberties, but when they realize that you’re not by yourself, it definitely puts them in a different light and puts them in a different stance.”
