Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, booted from her committees in Congress after spreading baseless conspiracy theories, just instigated a shouting match with Democratic representatives on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Greene, a representative from Georgia, was leaving the House chamber after a vote approving the passage of the Women's Health Protection Act, a bill that will establish and ensure federal abortion rights but will likely not advance to the Senate, when she launched into an anti-abortion, anti-immigration tirade, according to videos posted to Twitter from the event.
"Look at what's happening down here, the border's wide open," she shouted at several Democratic congresswomen, who promptly went inside the building following Friday's "Build Back Better for Women" photo-op on the East steps of the Capitol Building. Included in the group were Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell and Pennsylvania Rep. Chrissy Houlahan.
.@RepMTG started off by yelling at a group of Democratic women, incl. @IlhanMN @Rep_Stansbury @RepDebDingell @RepHoulahan, prompting them to walk back inside pic.twitter.com/l8DSI7ymHt
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) September 24, 2021
Heading down the steps, towards a group of Democratic lawmakers posing for a photo-op, she was confronted by a woman lined up alongside them. "Congresswoman, I wish you would stand with women," she said.
This further enraged Greene, who took the opportunity to draw a link between standing with women and standing against abortion.
"Stand with women? I do! Stand with motherhood, how about that?" she yelled back indignantly. "There's unborn women, do they not have a right to life?"
"Why don't you stand with women? Stand with mothers, stand with babies," she shot back, muttering that the "Build Back Better for Women" initiative is a "joke."
this was one of several exchanges Greene had with Democrats on the steps. as they were lining up below, Greene got into a spat with another woman over who stood with women more while muttering that “Build Back Better for Women” is a “joke” pic.twitter.com/uIOBii1ya4
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) September 24, 2021
"You should all be ashamed!" she yelled into the crowd gathered on the steps, before walking off. But she would not leave the scene without one final confrontation, this time with Dingell, who called for Greene to show some civility.
"Killing a baby up until birth is a lack of civility. It's called murder." she retorted, followed by a heated yelling match about the southern border, respecting laws and Christianity.
Greene had one final piece of advice for Dingell before walking away from the Capitol steps: "Control yourself!"
Republican Rep. @mtgreenee gets into a shouting match with Democrats, incl. @BettyMcCollum04 and @RepDebDingell at the Democrats’ “Build Back Better for Women” photo-op pic.twitter.com/S3AZX1zfJg
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) September 24, 2021
From endorsing the execution of several Democratic lawmakers prior to her election to Congress to her downplaying of COVID-19 to her role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, — during which she was apparently "gleeful," Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York told MSNBC earlier this week — Greene is not new to controversy. In fact, she is known for stoking it and feeding into popular far-right conspiracies. Greene came to be known as the "QAnon candidate" for her belief in many of the conspiracy theories and has continued to stir up conflict throughout her time in office.
