Rep Jamaal Bowman accused Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene of using a racial “bullhorn” when she characterised him as threatening during a confrontation on the steps of the US Capitol.
The two had a heated exchange on Wednesday after the House voted to refer the expulsion of Representative George Santos to the House Ethics Committee.
At a press conference on Thursday, Ms Greene criticised the New York Democrat, an outspoken progressive, for calling her a white supremacist.
“That is like calling a person of colour the n-word,” she said. “Jamaal Bowman was down there cursing at me, telling me to get the eff out of there, right outside the vehicle I was sitting in.”
Mr Bowman had confronted Ms Greene following the vote to refer the expulsion of the embattled New York Republican representative to the House Ethics Committee rather than subject his expulsion to a full vote on the House floor.
“What is on video is Jamaal Bowman shouting at the top of his lungs, cursing,” she said. “Calling me a white supremacist, which I take great offence to. That is like calling a person of colour the N-word.”
Ms Greene accused Mr Bowman of “leading the mob” right outside a vehicle as she was prepared to leave the Capitol. She then noted that he confronted her after the vote.
“His physical mannerisms are aggressive,” she said, criticising his recent interaction with Rep Thomas Massie (R - Kentucky) and accusing him of shoving Mr Massie when discussing gun violence. “I am concerned. I feel threatened by him.”
But Mr Bowman called Ms Greene’s words “incredibly dangerous” and “incredibly reckless.”
“Unfortunately, this country has a history of characterising Black men who are outspoken, who stand their ground and who push back as being threatening or intimidating,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “So she’s not even using a dog whistle. She’s using a bullhorn to put a target on my back to the people she refers to as MAGA people out there who might want to cause harm.”
The Daily Beast’s Ursula Perano filmed the interaction as Mr Bowman admonished Ms Greene, who has promoted conspiracies such as QAnon, to fix the Republican Party.
Eventually, Mr Bowman’s friend Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D - New York) stepped in to tell him of Ms Greene: “She ain’t worth it, bro.”
During their back and forth, Mr Bowman told Ms Greene of Mr Santos: “Expel him. Save the party. The party is hanging by a thread.”
But Ms Greene deflected, saying: “We got to get rid of Biden to save the country,” before she tried to start a chant of “impeach Biden.”
Mr Bowman then said Ms Greene needed to stop promoting conspiracy theories.
“No more QAnon,” he said, to which Ms Greene replied: “No more CNN.”
“No more debt ceiling nonsense,” he said. “Come on, now. Save the party.”
Mr Bowman also called on Ms Greene to do something about guns.
“So close the border,” Ms Greene, which led Mr Bowman to scoff.
“The border is where Trump left it,” he said.
Mr Bowman ultimately moved on following the advice of Ms Ocasio-Cortez.
The confrontation came after Mr Bowman and Ms Ocasio-Cortez heckled Mr Santos outside of the Capitol building, imploring him to resign as he spoke to reporters.
Last week, Mr Santos was indicted on 13 counts of criminal charges related to wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements to the House of Representatives and theft of public funds.
The charges come months after it was revealed that Mr Santos lied on his resume before being elected to represent New York’s 3rd district.
Democrats have been pushing for Mr Santos to resign, citing ethical concerns- including Mr Bowman and Ms Ocasio-Cortez.
