Democratic leaders discussed restraining order for Ocasio-Cortez against Greene: report

House Democratic leadership discussed the legality and logistics of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) filing a restraining order against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after the Republican has verbally attacked the progressive lawmaker, and likened COVID-19 restrictions to the Holocaust. 

Top Democrats have reportedly floated a potential restraining order for Ocasio-Cortez against Greene, sources told Politico, noting the Democrat would likely have to seek the order out herself. 

Greene first confronted Ocasio-Cortez before she was elected to Congress last year as a conservative activist. Earlier this month, after Greene shouted “Hey, Alexandria” multiple times outside the House chamber, Greene pressed the progressive lawmaker to explain why she supports Black Lives Matter and people she called antifa “terrorists.” 

Ocasio-Cortez, who worked as a bartender before she was elected to Congress, responded by telling reporters that Greene represents the “kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time.” 

“For me, this isn’t even about how I feel. It’s that I refuse to allow young women, people of color, people who are standing up for what they believe, to see this kind of intimidation attempts by a person who supports white supremacists in our nation’s Capitol,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Greene sparked controversy again over the weekend when she compared the House floor mask policy to the Holocaust. She also slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), calling her “mentally ill” on Saturday. 

“You know, we can look back at a time in history when people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany. And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about,” Greene said.

On Tuesday morning, House GOP leadership condemned her remarks. 

“Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling. The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a statement Tuesday. 

A spokesperson for House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said: “He does not agree with these comments and condemns these comparisons to the Holocaust. We also need to be speaking out strongly against the dangerous anti-Semitism that is growing in our streets and in the Democrat party, resulting in an alarming number of horrific violent attacks against Jews.”

After congressional leaders in both parties condemned her comments Tuesday, Greene said she was “sorry some of my words make people uncomfortable,” adding, “this is what the American left is all about.”

House Democrats have been discussing several strategies they can use to rebuke Greene, Politico reported, including an investigation through the House Ethics Committee. On Tuesday reports surfaced that Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) was drafting a resolution to censure Greene. 

In January, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) announced she was moving her office on Capitol Hill away from Greene’s out of fear for her personal safety and that of her staff. 

“A maskless Marjorie Taylor Greene & her staff berated me in a hallway. She targeted me & others on social media,” Bush said at the time. “I’m moving my office away from hers for my team’s safety.”