House

Cori Bush: Marjorie Taylor Greene didn’t take back what she said about me

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Thursday acknowledged that while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) apologized to congressional colleagues this week over her past controversial statements, Greene didn’t take back or regret claims directed at Bush.

During an interview that aired Thursday evening on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Bush said she has committed to “call out” Greene for past remarks that have surfaced in recent days, suggesting that Greene “needs to be exposed” in order for the GOP congresswoman to “evolve or be reformed.” 

Various outlets in recent days have unearthed past remarks by Greene, including statements indicating support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, advocating violence against Democratic leaders, arguing that mass school shootings were fabricated to rally support for gun control legislation and that the California wildfires were started by a space laser controlled by a network of corporations, including the Rothschild family firm. 

Greene on Wednesday addressed her fellow House members to apologize, telling her colleagues that she made a mistake by being curious about “Q” and that she told her children she learned a lesson about what to put on social media. 

Despite these remarks, Bush said Thursday that an apology was never extended directly to her. 

Bush claimed last month that Greene and her staff berated her in a hallway and also pointed to a tweet on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in which Greene accused Bush of leading a mob that called for “the rape, murder, and burning of the home” of the McCloskey family in St. Louis.

Bush told Noah on Thursday that Greene, “called me a terrorist, she said I was the leader of a terrorist mob … that I called for the murder of a couple.” 

“She didn’t take that back, she didn’t regret that,” Bush continued. “That’s the kind of stuff that’s dangerous for our communities, and so that has to be called out.”

Bush late last month announced that she would be moving her office away from Greene’s for her safety, adding that on her way to cast her vote to impeach former President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, “Greene came up from behind me, ranting loudly into her phone while not wearing a mask.” 

“Out of concern for the health of my staff, other members of Congress, and their congressional staff, I repeatedly called out to her to put on a mask,” Bush said in a statement. “Taylor Greene and her staff responded by berating me, with one staffer yelling, ‘Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter.’”

In the statement, Bush added, “In the context of Taylor Greene’s repeated endorsements of executing Democratic politicians before taking office, Taylor Greene’s renewed, repeated antagonization of the movement for Black lives in the last month directed towards me personally is cause for serious concern.” 

“All of this led to my decision to move my office away from Taylor Greene’s for the safety of my team,” Bush added. 

The House on Thursday voted to strip Greene from her committee assignments, citing her endorsement of conspiracy theories, racist ideologies and violence against Democratic politicians. Eleven Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats in favor of Greene’s removal from her committees.