Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo), doesn’t want to be anywhere near Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) after the Georgia Republican “berated” her in the Capitol recently over a mask altercation.
Bush said she plans to move her Washington, D.C. office away from Greene.
Greene is under fire lately, not only by Democrats but by many of her fellow Republicans because of her controversial remarks about school shootings being fake and because of Facebook posts that indicate Greene supports violence against Democrats.
Bush tweeted that she requested to move her congressional office away from Greene following a run-in over a mask. “A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media. I’m moving my office away from hers for my team’s safety,” Bush tweeted.
Greene responded to Bush on Twitter, saying Bush was “lying” and that it was Bush who verbally attacked her, sharing a video of the interaction, USA Today reported.
In the video, a maskless Greene is seen speaking into the camera and walking down a hall. Someone off-camera shouts at her to “put on a mask.”
“Don’t yell at people. You know what? You shouldn’t bring covid-positive members in here, spreading covid everywhere. Stop being a hypocrite,” Greene responds in the video after putting on her mask.
Greene and her staff then criticize Bush about an unrelated issue.
The incident happened on Jan. 13, the same day the House impeached former President Donald Trump, according to Bush.
Bush claimed that Greene came up behind her, “ranting loudly into her phone while not wearing a mask.” Bush said she “called out to her to put on a mask.” Greene and her staff “responded by berating me,” Bush said.
The Missouri congresswoman spoke about the incident on MSNBC, saying she felt that Greene was “a threat.”
While walking in the tunnel between House office buildings and the Capitol, Bush said that she moved out of the way and Greene walked past and ahead. As Greene passed, Bush told her colleague to put on a mask.
“This took place one day after multiple of my House colleagues announced they had tested positive for COVID-19 after being in a room with Taylor Greene during the white supremacist attack on the Capitol,” Bush said in a statement.
Masks are required to be used by lawmakers and staff whenever they are in the halls of the House and in all of the House office buildings, USA Today reported.
“I wanted it to be on the live stream that we are saying, ‘Put your mask on,’ and then her team turned around yelling, ‘Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter’,” Bush said. “What does BLM have to do with this? Put on a mask and save lives.”
On Twitter, Greene later called Rep. Bush the leader of “the St. Louis Black Lives Matter terrorist mob” that she suggested trespassed into a gated community to “threaten the lives of the McCloskey’s” — the couple now infamous for pointing guns at protesters in June, 11 Alive reported.
Bush said during the MSNBC interview that she decided to say something to Greene because face coverings keep members safe, adding that she would do the same to any other member who was not wearing a mask.
“You should care enough about your colleagues, and if you don’t believe in that, if you don’t believe we should have safety, if you don’t believe that this is a true health crisis where 400,000 people in this country have lost their lives, if you [will] not honor that and respect those families and respect the people in your community … then let go of this job,” Bush said.
Bush added, “What I cannot do is continue to look over my shoulder wondering if a white supremacist in Congress by the name of Marjorie Taylor Greene, or anyone else, because there are others…that they are conspiring against us.”
Bush found support on Twitter.
“Keep doing what you’re doing Queen. The racists are upset because the world as they know it is crumbling right before their eyes,” one person tweeted.
Another remarked, “Good for you! Stand up to the White Supremacist! Sad you have to endure this racist behavior! Sad it is allowed!”
“You shouldn’t have to endure thuggish, threatening behavior,” another tweeted. “She’s unmasked for who she is. Thank you for your service.”
Some said Bush was pulling off a PR stunt.
“She moved her office because she knew it would stir up mess, she’s not scared of anybody. She’s a strong black woman who has achieved more than most of us could ever dream of. She wants to stir the pot, it makes for good PR,” one person tweeted.
Both congresswomen have offices on the same floor of the Longworth office building, south of the Capitol — one of three office buildings used by the House of Representatives. Their offices are not next to each other but just a few doors away.
“In the context of Taylor Greene’s repeated endorsements of executing Democratic politicians before taking office, Taylor Greene’s renewed, repeated antagonization of the movement for Black lives in the last month directed towards me personally is cause for serious concern,” Bush said in her statement on moving offices.
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Bush’s fellow Democrats think more than a move is called for.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) tweeted that Greene’s actions are a “red flag” and said Bush’s office move “doesn’t mitigate the threat.”
“Imagine going to work with an armed hostile unstable colleague and not having much recourse,” Omar continued.
Democrats have called on Greene to resign, be censured, or be removed from her committee assignment.
