Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) publicly shamed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for her lack of connection to reality and guilt related to January 6 this weekend.
Alongside a video of Ocasio-Cortez participating in protest chants outside the U.S. Supreme Court including “into the streets,” Greene alleged Friday that “AOC just launched an insurrection. Any violence and rioting is a direct result of Democrat marching orders” — which is ridiculous. Straightforward protesting isn’t somehow illegal or the same thing as an “insurrection” — but Greene, whose eligibility for re-election was previously (and so far unsuccessfully) challenged on the basis of Constitutional provisions restricting those connected to insurrection from running for office, could certainly be said to know something about an actual “insurrection.” Greene helped promote the lies that directly led to January 6. As Ocasio-Cortez put it Friday:
‘I will explain this to you slowly: exercising our right to protest is not obstruction of Congress nor an attempt to overturn democracy. If one were a heinous enough person to do that, they’d likely seek a pardon for it too. But only one of us here has done that. And it ain’t me.’
I will explain this to you slowly: exercising our right to protest is not obstruction of Congress nor an attempt to overturn democracy.
If one were a heinous enough person to do that, they’d likely seek a pardon for it too.
But only one of us here has done that. And it ain’t me pic.twitter.com/o4889FBFyF
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 24, 2022
The January 6 committee in the House revealed testimony at the close of a recent public hearing indicating that Greene was among half a dozen Republican members of Congress to have sought presidential pardons from Trump after the 2020 election. Others include Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Mo Brooks (Ala.), alongside other familiar names on the far-right. “The only reason I know to ask for a pardon is because you think you’ve committed a crime,” committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said during the panel’s Thursday’s proceedings.
In response to the testimony the riot committee revealed, Greene didn’t immediately explicitly lay out whether or not — according to her — she’d actually asked for a pardon. Discussing the person providing the testimony, ex-Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson, Greene said: “Saying “I heard” means you don’t know. Spreading gossip and lies is exactly what the January 6th Witch Hunt Committee is all about.” So… did you ask for a pardon or not, Marjorie? “Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene just refused repeated questions from me and [CNN’s Annie Grayer] about whether she ever asked for a pardon,” journalist Kyle Cheney shared Thursday. “She kept pointing to her tweets, which don’t answer the question… We asked Greene if she could clear up whether she actually did ask for a pardon or not, given the hearsay claim. No answer.” The riot committee will be restarting public hearings in July as it continues to gather new evidence.
Meanwhile, protests took place across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court releasing its decision this week that did away with Roe v. Wade. Now, state officials will be free to restrict or allow abortion as they see fit, no matter the immediate, real-world consequences to the health of millions of child-bearing or potentially child-bearing people around the country. Areas with protests Friday included Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.
