Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia loves to play up her opposition toward Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, frequently attacking her at rallies and even aggressively confronting her on Capitol Hill. Greene was at it again on Saturday when she took the stage before former President Donald Trump’s first post-presidential rally in Wellington, Ohio. At one point in her speech, Greene called Ocasio-Cortez “the little communist from New York City.”
The crowd booed at the mention of Ocasio-Cortez’s name and Greene egged them on, suggesting that Ocasio-Cortez should be jailed. “Yeah, lock her up too. That’s a good idea,” Greene said. “She’s not an American. She really doesn’t embrace our American ways.”
Saying that her fellow lawmaker, who was born in New York, is not an American is a serious charge and some were quick to accuse Greene of racism. But Ocasio-Cortez didn’t get into that and simply dismissed the comments by focusing on the “little communist” part of the remarks. “First of all, I’m taller than her,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. For those worried about the facts, it seems the New York lawmaker is right. By an inch. In a 2019 tweet, AOC said she was 5-foot-4 and a profile on CrossFit.com lists Green as 5-foot-3.
This is not the first time Ocasio-Cortez has dismissed Greene’s insults and refused to engage. Last month, Ocasio-Cortez said she was used to dealing with people like Greene when she worked in the service industry. “I used to work as a bartender,” she told reporters. “These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time. For me, this isn’t even about how I feel. It’s that I refuse to allow young women, people of color, people who are standing up for what they believe, to see this kind of intimidation.” That happened a day after Greene followed Ocasio-Cortez and started shouting at her as the New York lawmaker walked away and tried to ignore her. “You don’t care about the American people,” Greene shouted then. “Why do you support terrorists and Antifa?” That led Ocasio-Cortez’s office to call on congressional leaders to “take real steps to make Congress a safe, civil place for all Members and staff.”
