Cori Bush to move offices after altercation with Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress tunnel
Politics live updates: Rep. Cori Bush requests office moved away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Greene responded to Bush on Twitter, saying Bush was “lying” and that it was Bush who berated her, sharing a recording of the interaction.
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The Missouri congresswoman recounted the moment Friday night on MSNBC, saying she felt that Greene was “a threat.”
Bush said that she moved out of the way and, as Greene walked past and ahead of her in the House tunnel, told her colleague to put on a mask.
Bush said of the moment in contention: “What happened? She put on a mask.”
Masks are required from lawmakers and staff whenever in the halls of the House and in all of the House office buildings.
Bush said during the interview that she decided to say something to Greene because face coverings keep members safe and allow them to do their jobs, adding that she would do the same to any other member not complying.
“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.
The offices of both of the congresswomen are currently on the same floor of the Longworth office building, though they are not next to each other.
“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.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, in a tweet called 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.
Greene has drawn recent scrutiny for her controversial remarks about school shootings and Facebook activity that indicates support for violence against prominent Democrats.
Democrats have called on her to resign, be censured or removed from her committee assignment.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will meet with Greene in person next week before examining any possible reprimands, sources told USA TODAY.
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Bush has introduced a resolution calling for the expulsion of Republicans who participated in invalidating the election results, the rhetoric of which led to the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Expelling a member from Congress requires two-thirds of the chamber to vote to remove that person.
Even before joining Congress, Greene was the center of controversy in Republican ranks over her past remarks and support for the QAnon conspiracy fringe movement, which baselessly claims a “deep state” cabal of pedophiles was trying to bring down then-President Donald Trump.
She has also previously and routinely refused to wear face masks during the pandemic, and has been one of the loudest peddlers of Trump’s baseless theories of election fraud.
Contributing: Sarah Elbeshbishi, Nicholas Wu, Christal Hayes