McCormick says touching Greene ‘wasn’t meant aggressively’

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) said Thursday that he’s sorry Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) “took offense” to him touching her on the House floor last month but “it certainly wasn’t meant aggressively.”

Greene reportedly said McCormick “grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her” when the two Georgia Republicans moved to force votes on competing resolutions to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

“I literally placed my hands on her shoulders and said, ‘At least you and I can have an honest conversation,’” McCormick said in a CSPAN interview Thursday. “I believe in the power of touch.”

He said the move was truly intended as a compliment.

“I’m sorry she took offense to that, but it certainly wasn’t meant aggressively. It was meant, actually, as a compliment; that’s what’s so frustrating about this,” he said.

Greene has reportedly described the incident as “very serious” and as an “assault.”

The lawmakers both wanted to censure Tlaib but disagreed on wording in a bill, McCormick’s office told The Hill last month.

The competing censure resolutions created a divide between the lawmakers. Greene eventually retracted her bill, and McCormick’s was passed.

“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.”

Updated on Dec. 15 at 9:50 a.m.