When Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) went viral with her “poorly built, bleached blonde” comment hurled at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, she received waves of applause from many on the left happy to see someone take on Georgia Republican.
However, there were also some who cringed, especially when the alliterative insult sunk in.
In attacking Greene, who had previously made a nasty comment about Crockett’s eyelashes, Crockett used language that also seemed demeaning to an entire category of people.
“While I was proud of Rep. Crockett for defending herself as fiercely as she defends others, I was upset by the inclusion of the word ‘butch’ in her takedown of MTG,” said Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs for the National Coalition for Black Justice.
“As I feared, homophobic and misogynistic people used his words as an opportunity to attack masculine-presenting women and women with natural masculine characteristics,” York told The Hill in an email.
Crockett later posted a message on social platform who appeared to apologize for her use of the term “butch,” saying she did so and “will always be 10 feet below the community and meant no harm to anyone in the community.”
However, she also plans to move forward with selling T-shirts that repeat the slogan in full, a decision she defended during a Thursday morning appearance on “The View.”
“When I decided to trademark it…it was because there was a demand,” she said, later adding that fundraising in the viral moment will help her “save our democracy.”
Crockett, who represents Texas’ 30th Congressional District, is running for re-election this year but has no Republican opponent. She won the Democratic primary in March with more than 90% of the vote.
“As a fan of Rep. Crockett, I assume she intended her comments to be specific to MTG and not broadly,” said York, of the National Black Justice Coalition.
“However, the brilliant legal and parliamentary rule that she took advantage of to ask for clarification meant that her words were easily misinterpreted. Butch women, boys, and women with conditions like hirsutism, alopecia, micromastia, and deep voices have spent the last few days with news feeds full of posts from women like them being memed and ridiculed alongside affirmative comments focused on Rep. Crockett regaining his power after the MTG insults.”
Memes applauding Crockett proliferated on social media. Some supporters wrote countryrap and even gospel songs this quickly went viral as well.
Greene, a former CrossFit gym owner, shared a video of herself lifting weights on social media shortly after the switch. “Yes, my body is built and strong,” she wrote, “NOT through pinching, bending, plastic or silicone, but through a healthy lifestyle.”
Greene, since her election to the House in 2021, has frequently targeted LGBTQ rights. She previously asked for an end to LGBTQ Pride Month, which is celebrated every year in June.
“[Crockett’s] clapback is equally brilliant with one alliterative word removed – butch,” said York. “I hope everyone thinking about capitalizing on this viral moment, including Rep. Crockett, will remove Butch from the alliteration.”
That doesn’t appear to be the case, however. On Wednesday, a fundraising email from President Biden’s re-election campaign that featured a message from Crockett was sent with the subject line “BBBBBB” in an apparent reference to Crockett’s insult.
National LGBTQ advocacy organizations that typically chastise members of Congress and public figures who use derogatory language against the community have remained relatively silent regarding Crockett’s remarks.
Requests for comment to the LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD, the Congressional Equality Caucus — of which Crockett is a member — and the Human Rights Campaign went unanswered.
Crockett’s office also did not respond to a request for comment.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
