Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside the House chamber on Wednesday afternoon. The incident, first reported by The Washington Post, was just the latest of several hostile confrontations the Georgia congresswoman has had with her Democratic colleagues, but her interactions with the New York Democrat predate Greene’s election to Congress in 2020.
During a February 2019 visit to congressional offices at the US Capitol with associates who include a man who would later enter the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, Greene – then a conservative activist – can be seen taunting Ocasio-Cortez’s staff outside the congresswoman’s locked office by talking through a mailbox slot urging her to come out.
In the video, from a since-deleted Facebook Live of Greene’s that was saved by CNN’s KFile, Greene tells Ocasio-Cortez to “get rid of your diaper,” referring to the congresswoman’s office as a “day care.” Greene repeatedly indicates throughout her stream that security has been called on them.
“We’re going to go see, we’re going to visit, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crazy eyes. Crazy eyes. Nutty. Cortez,” Greene says to the camera on the way to the congresswoman’s office, mispronouncing “Ocasio.”
When Greene and her companions arrive at the office, Ocasio-Cortez’s office door is locked. Standing outside of the office, Greene and her associates taunt Ocasio-Cortez’s staff through the mailbox, mocking the staff for keeping the door locked.
Then Greene talks through the slot to the staff, urging them to unlock the door and let her and her cohorts inside.
“Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, I’m an American citizen. I pay your salary through the taxes that you collect for me through the IRS because I’m a taxpaying citizen of the United States,” Greene says, noting elsewhere in the video that members of Congress are “employees” who “work for us.”
“So you need to stop being a baby and stop locking your door and come out and face the American citizens that you serve,” she says. “If you want to be a big girl, you need to get rid of your diaper and come out and be able to talk to the American citizens. Instead of having to use a flap, a little flap. Sad.”
In an email to CNN after publication, Greene said, “Members of Congress and all government employees are employed by the taxpayers of this country. Holding the government accountable to the people is what I’ve always believed in.”
On the Hill Friday, Ocasio-Cortez told reporters that Greene is “deeply unwell and clearly needs help. And her kind of fixation has lasted for several years now,” adding that this “raised concerns for other members. … I think that this is an assessment that needs to be made by the proper professional.”
Ocasio-Cortez also tweeted about the incident Friday, arguing that Greene’s behavior is supported by GOP leadership because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy “has worked to protect this person from consequences (including pretending he doesn’t see it)…”
In the video, Greene and her companions continue to goad the staff while chuckling from outside the door. “You can’t stay in there forever. Come out and play,” taunts one Greene ally through the mailbox slot.
The video is from February 22, 2019 – the same day that Greene visited the Capitol and brought to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office a petition to impeach the California Democrat for treason, and suggested she should be executed or imprisoned for her “crimes.” On social media in 2018 and 2019, Greene repeatedly indicated support for executing other Democratic politicians, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and FBI agents.
Greene also visited Rep. Maxine Waters’ office that day, where she said the California Democrat was “just as guilty” of treason as Pelosi. She also went on to visit the offices of then-freshman Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, during which she falsely claimed the first two Muslim women elected to Congress weren’t “official” because they had been sworn in on the Quran. Greene stopped by the offices of Reps. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, and Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, and suggested visiting then-Sen. Kamala Harris that day.
With Greene at the Capitol that day was her close ally Anthony Aguero, a former El Paso congressional candidate and conservative livestreamer who was captured on camera inside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.
As they leave Ocasio-Cortez’s office, Greene says, “Bye. Bye. Bye, AOC. Ocasio-Cortez. Bye, bye, baby. Bye-bye, baby. Bye-bye, little baby girl. Ocasio-Cortez– she went and hid. She couldn’t take it,” said Greene, mispronouncing Ocasio-Cortez’s name again.
She and her companions then rearranged the sticky notes placed on Ocasio-Cortez’s office wall and signed the guest book outside the office by drawing a picture of a border wall before leaving to go to another member’s office.
Greene repeatedly says in the video that “we have security following us everywhere we go” and appears proud of it. By the end of the day, she and her companions appear to be escorted out by security. It’s unclear if the Capitol Police were involved.
“We’re headed back out. That was fun,” she says to the camera.
Greene’s disruptive visit is not the first time she’s interacted aggressively with members of Congress. As a congressional candidate in September 2020, she posted an image of herself holding a gun alongside images of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Tlaib and encouraged going on the “offense against these socialists.”
Earlier this year, freshman Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri said she would move her office away from Greene’s following a heated exchange in which Bush confronted Greene about not wearing a mask in a hallway on Capitol Hill.
Greene also faced backlash when she posted an anti-transgender sign outside of her office, antagonizing her hallway neighbor, Democratic Rep. Marie Newman of Illinois, whose daughter is transgender.
This story has been updated with comments from Greene and Ocasio-Cortez.