Chaos in lower house committee, female legislators exchange insults

A House hearing turned personal Thursday night. Insults dominated the attention of the Oversight Committee for more than an hour.

Theoretically the hearing was about Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to hand over audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur about his mishandling of classified documents. And Republicans were pushing for him to be declared in contempt of Congress.

The hearing got sidetracked when Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene commented on Texas Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett’s eyelashes, saying:

– “Do you know why we are here? Do you know we are here?”

And there Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican legislator from Georgia, told him: “I think your false eyelashes are ruining you.”

Democrats then went on to censure Greene.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic lawmaker from New York, said: “That is absolutely unacceptable, how dare you criticize another person’s physical appearance!”

And a dispute with Greene began:

-Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Are your feelings hurt?”

-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Take what she said from the record.”

-Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Aww”

-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Oh, girl. Little one.”

-Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Really?”

– Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Don’t even play with me.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Chiquita? I don’t believe it.”

Crockett later fired back with his own personal insults. While President James Comer tried to restore order.

Crockett asked:

“I’m just curious. To better understand your decision, if someone on this committee starts talking about someone’s skinny, crooked, butch body, that wouldn’t be getting involved in personal matters, correct?”

In the end, the legislators did not apologize to their interlocutors or the rest of the committee.

The procedures were delayed by an hour. The committee ultimately recommended that Attorney General Garland be held in contempt.

The White House reacted to the chaotic scene.

Karine Jean-Pierre, its spokesperson, said:

“I think you have to treat people with dignity. You have to treat people with respect. It is important. It doesn’t matter which side of the floor you sit on.”

That now goes to the plenary session of the House of Representatives, but it is uncertain how the Lower House will proceed, where the Republican majority is very narrow.