Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman dismissed criticism Sunday after taking to social media to weigh in on a House Oversight Committee dispute where Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene attacked a Democratic colleague’s appearance.
Some in the senator’s own party are unhappy with his take on the heated exchange that took place when the Georgia lawmaker went after Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s “false eyelashes” during a hearing Thursday night.
Fetterman posted a headline of the House exchange that read: “House committee meeting descends into chaos as Greene and Ocasio-Cortez trade barbs.”
The Democratic senator wrote with the headline X ‘In the past, I described the United States House of Representatives as The Jerry Springer Show. Today I apologize to The Jerry Springer Show.
But Ocasio-Cortez, who sits on the House Oversight Committee, disagreed and responded to Fetterman with a new post about X as well.
Progressive Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez accuses Fetterman of bullying for her X post about the House Oversight Committee fight where Rep. Greene attacked a colleague’s appearance.
“I understand that you probably would not have defended your colleague and seem confused about racism and misogyny being a ‘both sides’ issue,” the New York congresswoman wrote.
But I stand up to bullies, instead of becoming one. And to the women of Pennsylvania: I will defend you too,” he added.
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Fetterman was asked about the post and Ocasio-Cortez’s response accusing him of bullying.
“Of course that’s absurd,” Fetterman said.
“I was just responding to the kind of chaos and everything that Rep. Greene also started,” he continued.
Senator John Fetterman was asked on CNN about Ocasio Cortez accusing him of bullying. His response to the accusation was “that’s absurd.”
Fetterman’s post on
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez responded to Fetterman’s opinion by suggesting he is a bully
Fetterman said that if all committee members were proud of what they produced, “they have a right to their opinion.”
He also suggested that if it was the type of video they wanted to send to eighth-grade civics students across the United States, “that’s their choice.”
Fetterman said that if he is going to oppose anything, it would be against Hamas. He also mentioned rejecting Vladimir Putin and voting against aid to Israel and Ukraine.
The exchange that Fetterman posted about in
Shortly after, Ocasio-Cortez also weighed in, demanding that Greene’s words be taken note of. She said she was unacceptable and criticized Greene: ‘How dare you attack another person’s physical appearance!’
Greene proceeded to mock the New York congresswoman by asking her if her feelings were hurt.
“Oh girl, girl,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “Don’t even play.”
The committee did not remove Greene’s comments.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., ridiculed her black Democratic colleague’s appearance at a late-night hearing Thursday.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, responded to Greene by asking the committee chair if personal attacks such as “if someone on this committee starts talking about someone’s poorly-built, blonde, male body” would be against the rules. .
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez came to Rep. Crockett’s defense Thursday after Greene’s attack on her appearance, calling it “absolutely unacceptable.” She could be heard responding to Greene’s taunts with “oh, girl, girl.” She then told Greene “don’t even play.”
In another surprising moment, shortly after Crockett asked the committee chairman:If anyone on this committee starts talking about someone’s poorly shaped, bleached blonde, male body, that would be against the rules.
He did not mention Greene by name, but it is widely believed that Greene was the target of his hit.
Since the hearing, Crockett has called Greene’s attacks on her appearance “racist” and said she will not be disrespected.
Crockett said Sunday that he does not regret his response and “absolutely” believes the attack was racist.
Ocasio-Cortez was not the only Democratic lawmaker in the House to question Fetterman’s social media post.
Rep. Verónica Escobar, D-TX, also took issue with her post on X.
‘Women of color in Congress are frequently targeted by misogynistic, xenophobic, and ignorant people. I have lived it,” she wrote. ‘One of the blatant extremists we work with insulted us and used parliamentary procedure to demand a level of decorum. There are no “both sides”