Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is accusing another Republican member of Congress of committing “assault” against her.
Though Greene declined to name the member, two people familiar with the matter say her allegation is directed at fellow Georgia Rep. Richard McCormick, over an incident on the House floor in early November.
In the lead-up to the encounter, McCormick and Greene had been at odds for days over competing resolutions to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) over her comments in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
On the day of the incident, McCormick was having what one of those people described as an unproductive conversation with another House Republican colleague about a vote to censure Tlaib.
When he turned around, McCormick saw Greene. He put his hands on her shoulders, shook her, and said he could at least have an honest conversation with her, according to the two people. They said McCormick was insinuating that he couldn’t have a straightforward conversation with the person he’d turned away from.
McCormick told POLITICO that he meant the interaction with Greene to be friendly – denying that it was a physical attack of any sort.
“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,” McCormick said in a statement.
“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.”
Greene had previously told CNN in a story published Sunday that she wanted to speak to Speaker Mike Johnson about a “serious” incident with an undisclosed colleague, but that she didn’t get a phone call back.
When POLITICO asked Greene on Tuesday what she was referring to in that story, the lawmaker said “assault.” She did not elaborate, beyond saying a man should not put his hands on a woman.
It is unclear what, if any, action Greene will take against McCormick.
While Greene was first in pushing to censure Tlaib, her resolution failed after nearly two dozen Republicans joined all Democrats in sinking that measure, which compared a pro-Palestinian protest at the Capitol to an “insurrection.”
McCormick’s resolution passed a week later. It was a more targeted measure that formally reprimanded Tlaib for “promoting false narratives” about Hamas’ attack on Israel and for “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”
