Inside Marjorie Taylor Greene And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Brutal Feud

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's name has become synonymous with drama. She's been embroiled in some of the messiest public feuds in recent memory, and one politician who often finds themselves being targeted by the congresswoman is New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (often simply referred to as AOC). Greene appears to have an unhealthy obsession with Ocasio-Cortez, and you don't just have to take AOC's word for it. In 2019, before she was elected to Congress, Greene took it upon herself to pay the New York representative a visit at her office, and she live-streamed the entire spectacle on Facebook.

Greene relayed her plans to her followers, telling them, "We're going to go see, we're going to visit, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Crazy eyes. Crazy eyes. Nutty. Cortez" (via CNN). After finding AOC's office locked, Greene and her team of cameramen then proceeded to defile the visitor's book outside the congresswoman's office with derogatory comments before proceeding to harass her through the mail flap. Greene made it clear that she, as a taxpayer, was providing Ocasio-Cortez with her monthly paycheck and that she didn't approve of her abortion policies. She proceeded to goad the congresswoman to come out and face her. "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," Greene said.

In the aftermath, Ocasio-Cortez told CNN that she was concerned about Greene's behavior. "This is a woman that's deeply unwell. And clearly needs help. And her kind of fixation has lasted for several years now," the congresswoman said. "I think that this is an assessment that needs to be made by the proper professional."

In September 2020, while Marjorie Taylor Greene was campaigning for Georgia's House seat, she took to Facebook to post a photograph of herself holding a gun alongside a snap of Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow Democratic representatives, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. "We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart," she captioned the post (via CNN).

The post sparked outrage on social media, with political correspondent Rachael Bade taking to X, formerly Twitter, to rage against Greene's inflammatory post. "This is a threatening message to 3 lawmakers by an incoming member of the House," Bade wrote. Omar also took to X to condemn Greene. "Posting a photo with an assault rifle next to the faces of three women of color is not advertising. It's incitement. There are already death threats in response to this post. Facebook should remove this violent provocation," she wrote. The social media giant did indeed end up deleting the post. Ocasio-Cortez didn't issue a public response.

Despite receiving criticism for her past jabs at Ocasio-Cortez, Greene refused to back down in the following years. Once elected to Congress, she constantly challenged the New York representative to a debate, but the latter refused to spend her precious time indulging Greene's whims. In 2021, Greene made known her aversion to the Green New Deal, which was reinstated by Ocasio-Cortez. She took to social media to challenge the congresswoman to a debate, threatening to besmirch her good name should she refuse. "If she chickens out, then she shows exactly who she really is — a scared little girl that is pretty stupid and doesn't know anything about the economy or economics... she just has a government job," Greene argued.

There's a reason Donald Trump considered Marjorie Taylor Greene as his 2024 running mate — the two have plenty in common, including their propensity to openly attack people in public. In May 2021, Greene was still finding her feet as a newly elected member of Congress, but this did nothing to douse her apparent obsession with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Reporters working for The Washington Post witnessed Greene shouting at the New York congresswoman as she left her office. Greene repeatedly called after Ocasio-Cortez, who ignored her. The Georgia representative would not be dismissed and started shouting, "You don't care about the American people. Why do you support terrorists and antifa?" She again lamented Ocasio-Cortez's lack of interest in a debate. The New York representative eventually turned around but didn't get into a debate with Greene, appearing to try and shrug off her comments. Greene, red-faced, told nearby reporters that Ocasio-Cortez was "a chicken."

The incident led to Ocasio-Cortez's spokesperson, Lauren Hitt, issuing a statement calling to make Congress a safer place. "One Member has already been forced to relocate her office due to Congresswoman Greene's attacks," Hitt said, referring to Missouri Representative Cori Bush. Greene was none too thrilled with this response and tried to take the fight to X. "@AOC 'Ms. Defund The Police' wants to call the police for security bc she's afraid of debating with me about her socialist GND. AOC is a fraud & a hypocrite," she posted. Once again, Ocasio-Cortez didn't respond.

Despite Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's remarkable restraint when it comes to Marjorie Taylor Greene's constant goading, the two congresswomen did eventually get into a very public social media spat. It all started when Ocasio-Cortez spoke to CNN and called out various Republican representatives, including Greene, for their questionable behavior. "Marjorie Taylor Greene [is] regularly trafficking antisemitic conspiracy theories... [and] inciting violence against specific members in the body," she argued in a clip shared on X. She also cited Greene's support of some 9/11 conspiracy theories as proof that she shouldn't even be a member of Congress to begin with.

Greene couldn't pass up the opportunity to clap back at her fellow representative and call Ocasio-Cortez a liar. "@RepAOC I have repeatedly asked you to debate me, but you have been a coward and can't even respond. But you go on @CNN and lie about me," the Georgia Representative wrote. "When are you going to be an adult and actually debate me on policy instead of run your mouth like a teenage girl?" This time, Ocasio-Cortez didn't hold her tongue and responded, 'Hey there! In case you forgot, we sit on the same committee, which debated for the first time this week. I don't blame you if you forgot. You spent almost no time there."

Some pointed out that Greene's eagerness to debate Ocasio-Cortez would end in disaster and that the New York representative would wipe the floor with her. Greene indignantly responded to these comments, claiming that Ocasio-Cortez's business degrees mean nothing in "the real world" before making a weak reference to the congresswoman's former experience as a bartender. "She wasn't even good at that, so she even makes bartenders look bad & I respect bartenders," Greene concluded.

With Marjorie Taylor Greene seizing every opportunity to take jabs at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the two eventually got in a very public spat during a House meeting in 2024. AOC lost her temper with Greene when the latter attacked Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett's appearance during the session after the congresswoman questioned Greene's comprehension of what the meeting was really about. Greene brought up the judge overseeing Donald Trump's New York fraud trial while the House was meeting to discuss Attorney General Merrick Garland's failure to adhere to a subpoena. The congresswoman took issue with Crockett's question, replying, "I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading."

Ocasio-Cortez wasn't having it, and before Crockett could defend herself, the New York representative moved to have Greene's words scrapped from the meeting's record. "That is absolutely unacceptable! How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person?" she bellowed. The House erupted into chaos. Ocasio-Cortez demanded Greene apologize to Crockett, which she refused to do. Greene then once again challenged the congresswoman to a debate, questioning why she keeps declining to do it, to which Ocasio-Cortez replied, "I think it's pretty self-evident." Greene clapped back, "Yeah, you don't have enough intelligence."

In the aftermath of the squabble, which was seen by millions of Americans, Ocasio-Cortez spoke to MSNBC, saying the very fact that Greene was even allowed to address Crockett the way she did was unacceptable. She recalled how Congress used to be a place where representatives showed each other mutual respect, but that this was no longer the case. "Marjorie Taylor Greene acting like, you know, the ogre in that role is not surprising," she said.

Once Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene's public feud hit the airwaves and social media, plenty of criticism followed. Senator John Fetterman voiced his exasperation at the squabble, tweeting, "In the past, I've described the U.S. House as The Jerry Springer Show. Today, I'm apologizing to The Jerry Springer Show."

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer also discussed the brawl on his show, "The Situation Room," asking CNN national politics correspondent Eva McKend for her thoughts on the matter. She was of the opinion that Greene's unpredictable behavior, both in and outside of Congress, is what set the stage for the squabble to occur in the first place. "House Republicans are setting the tone. And if this is the kind of energy that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is bringing, you know, folks in that room are going to match that energy, and we shouldn't necessarily, I think, castigate Congresswoman Crockett for responding in kind," she said. CNN political commentator Alice Stewart agreed but criticized the back-and-forth that followed, arguing that Ocasio-Cortez and Crockett's response is what eventually led to the chaos. "It was childish behavior all around," she argued. "Members of Congress are there to lead this country, legislate and get laws passed, and they're not there to provide, you know, 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' kind of behavior."