Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accuses GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of 'losing control' of his party as Marjorie Taylor Greene provokes backlash

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) arrives for a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on August 24, 2020

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy of “losing control of his caucus.”
Ocasio-Cortez was referring to GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has sparked widespread condemnation.
Greene has promoted a slew of conspiracy theories, including election disinformation.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday accused Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of “losing control of his caucus” after Democratic Rep. Cori Bush said GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “berated” her in a Capitol hallway without a mask on.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that McCarthy “has a responsibility to ensure his members do not harm others.” Bush, a Missouri freshman and Black Lives Matter organizer, tweeted earlier on Friday that she was moving offices to be farther away from Greene to protect her staff’s safety.

“He is losing control of his caucus & allowing these threats to go unchecked, while looking the other way as members like @CoriBush feel so unsafe that she must move offices just 3 weeks into her 1st term,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

Following up to that tweet, she added: “Moving offices is a huge and disruptive effort. Honestly it shouldn’t even be Rep. Bush that has to move and endure all this, it should be Greene – she is the one that posing a threat to others around her.”

Bush, Ocasio-Cortez, and some other Democrats are calling to expel Greene and other GOP members who spread election disinformation and helped incite the Capitol siege earlier this month.

In a video Greene posted on Friday that appeared to show her January 13 encounter with Bush, the Democrat can be heard yelling at Greene to put on her mask. Greene, whose nose and mouth were exposed despite strict rules requiring face coverings in Congress, pulled a mask over her face and yelled back at Bush that she was a “hypocrite” for bringing “COVID positive members in here.”

Someone else with Greene is heard saying to Bush: “Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter.”

It’s unclear what “COVID positive members” Greene was referring to or why she accused Bush of “being a hypocrite.”

A spokesman for Greene didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.