Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) issued a statement Tuesday after news outlets reported that he got into a physical altercation with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) last month when the two Georgia Republicans moved to force votes on competing resolutions to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
“I understand why there would be a lot of raw emotions following the censure vote given that her censure was tabled and mine passed. My intention was to encourage her by making a friendly gesture. I said to her, ‘at least we can have an honest discussion,’ to which she said she did not appreciate that. For that I immediately apologized and have not spoken to her since,” McCormick said in a statement.
CNN first reported Tuesday that, during a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week, Greene accused McCormick of grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her amid the drama over the Tlaib censure resolutions, per multiple sources familiar with the matter.
According to Politico, the interaction took place in early November on the House floor. The outlet, citing two people familiar with the matter, also reported that McCormick “put his hands on her shoulders, shook her, and said he could at least have an honest conversation with her.”
Tuesday’s accounts come after CNN reported Sunday that Greene had concerns about a “very serious situation” that took place between her and a “male Republican of the conference,” whom she did not identify. When Politico asked Greene what she was referencing in the CNN story, she said “assault,” adding that a man should not put his hands on a woman.
The Hill also reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
The alleged altercation took place in the wake of a push to censure Tlaib for her criticisms of Israel after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Greene first moved to force a vote on her resolution rebuking Tlaib, which accused her of “leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol Complex” for her participation in an anti-war protest in October, organized by Jewish groups, which led to a number of arrests.
Twenty-three Republicans — including McCormick — joined Democrats in voting to table the resolution. Greene then reintroduced her resolution to censure Tlaib but swapped out the mention of “insurrection” for “illegal occupation” and added other controversial comments Tlaib had made.
McCormick that same day, however, moved to force a vote on his own resolution to censure Tlaib.
After Greene’s initial resolution failed, McCormick approached Greene on the House floor and said he wanted to tweak the “insurrection” language in her measure because he thought it was important to censure Tlaib, McCormick’s office told The Hill at the time. But McCormick’s office said Greene was not interested in working together to revise the legislation.
A source familiar with the floor interaction noted at the time that McCormick approached Greene after the resolution was tabled and did not voice his concerns to Greene ahead of the vote. The source also said McCormick wanted to introduce the revised resolution himself, which Greene was not interested in.
McCormick’s office, however, pushed back on that characterization, denying the congressman said he would have to introduce the revised resolution.
The two went their separate ways after the initial vote, crafting competing resolutions to censure Tlaib and moving within minutes of each other Nov. 6 to force votes on them.
The House ultimately passed McCormick resolution to censure Tlaib, and Greene pulled hers that night. She took a dig at McCormick when announcing that she would yank her resolution.
“Nobody cares about Rich McCormick,” Greene said in early November. “Most people have no idea that he’s even doing this. Most people think it’s my resolution. He’s only doing it because he got his ego bruised because he got called out and people were mad at him last week.”