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- Democratic Rep. Cori Bush is moving offices to get away from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
- Bush said she isn’t moving offices because she’s afraid, but because she has a job to do.
- Bush said she and her staff should not have to come to work worried that Greene wants to do them harm.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Hours after Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, of Missouri, said she was changing offices because Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene berated her in a hallway, the freshman lawmaker told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that she didn’t move out of fear, but because she has a job to do.
“What I cannot do is continue to look over my shoulder wondering if a white supremacist in Congress by the name of Marjorie Taylor Greene, or anyone else, because there are others…that they are conspiring against us,” Bush said.
She said her focus has to be on St. Louis and the people she represents. Bush also emphasized that members of her staff deserve to feel safe at work.
“They should not have to come to work and wonder if that door is going to open…and it’s somebody who does not want to do them well,” Bush said.
Bush told Reid that despite working previous jobs in fast food, child care, and health care, she’s never had a work environment like her current one.
Greene reacted to Bush’s TV appearance Friday evening, retweeting The ReidOut, and saying “Same @CoriBush” in reference to Bush’s comments about her current workplace.
“You should stop yelling and attacking people,” Greene wrote. “No surprise you joined @JoyAnnReid, she enjoys lying too!”
Greene has come under fire in past days for social media posts that show her endorsing conspiracy theories about school shootings and supporting the execution of Democratic leaders. Greene later deleted the posts.
Friday afternoon, Greene tweeted a statement called “A Message to the Mob from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.” In it she blamed the “left-wing Democrat mob” and the “Fake News media” for trying to discredit her.
“Every attack. Every lie. Every smear strengthens my base of support at home and across the country because people know the truth and are fed up with the lies,” she wrote.
In a statement to Insider, Bush described the January 13 incident in question. She said she was walking to the House floor to vote and Greene “came up from behind” her loudly ranting into her phone while not wearing a mask.
Bush reportedly asked Greene to put on a mask and Greene responded by “berating” her. Bush said a member of Greene’s staff told her to stop “inciting violence with Black Lives Matter.”
Bush was a racial justice and police accountability advocate before being elected to Congress.
Greene responded to Bush’s move by calling her a liar and tweeting a video of the encounter, saying she “had the receipts.” The video shows Greene livestreaming with her mask pulled down. Someone shouts asking Greene to wear a mask and Greene responds “don’t yell at people” and “stop being a hypocrite.” A Greene staffer can be heard telling Bush to stop inciting violence.
Bush addressed the video on “The ReidOut,” saying it only further proves her account to be true.
“For her to turn this around to be a Black Lives Matter issue, that’s not what it was,” Bush said. “You should care enough about your colleagues, and if you don’t believe…that this is a true health crisis…if you will not honor that…then let go of this job. It is not for you.”
“She can say whatever she wants to say, but the fact is, she did not have a mask on in that tunnel, and I absolutely spoke up.”
Bush said the issue isn’t just about Greene, but relevant to any Congress member who won’t wear a mask.
“Abide by the rules so that we can do our jobs,” she said.
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