Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas told The Independent that her Democratic colleague Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts nearly jumped up to defend her after right-wing firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked her on the House floor.
Last month, the House Oversight Committee erupted during the debate over a proposal to charge Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. At one occasion, Greene criticized Crockett’s “fake eyelashes.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the committee’s second-ranking Democrat, condemned Greene’s statements as “disgusting” and “unacceptable because it was considered a personal attack and a breach in decorum.” When Greene questioned Ocasio-Cortez if he had hurt her feelings, she said, “Oh girl, oh baby girl, don’t even play.”
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 subsequently react to Crockett by saying, “Yes, my body is built and strong through a healthy lifestyle rather than nips, tucks, plastic, or silicone.”
However, Crockett told The Independent in an interview to be published later this week that other factors 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 newspaper.
She also stated that Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, defended her. When Greene originally made her attack, Raskin reportedly remarked, “That’s beneath even you, Ms Greene.”
“They have no idea that Raskin was also involved, and we weren’t going back and forth with Comer,” Crockett, a freshman Democrat, explained.
Ocasio-Cortez, for her part, praised Crockett’s performance 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 newspaper.
Crockett expressed her appreciation for the committee’s representation of women of color.
“The bigger story that kind of emerged from this was what women of color face at work,” she explained. “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.”
Source: independent.co.uk
