Jasmine Crockett reveals that a fight almost broke out on the House floor after a ‘bleached blonde and bad body’ comment

Representative Jasmine Crockett from Texas said The Independent that fellow Democrat congressman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts nearly stood up to defend her after right-wing firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked her on the House floor.

Last month, the House Oversight Committee exploded while marking a resolution hold Attorney General Merrick Garland liable for contempt of Congress. At one point, Greene mocked Crockett’s “fake eyelashes.”

That prompted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the No. 2 Democrat on the committee, to call Greene’s remarks “disgusting” and “unacceptable as they were considered a personal attack and a violation of decorum.” When Greene asked Ocasio-Cortez if Greene had hurt her feelings, Ocasio-Cortez responded, “Oh girl, oh girl, don’t even joke.”

In response, Crockett had a viral moment when he asked Chairman James Comer, “If someone on this committee starts talking about someone’s bleached blonde and poorly built male body, that wouldn’t be engaging in personality, right?” in response to Greene. Green would later respond to Crockett saying: “Yes, my body is built and strong, NOT through pinching, bending, plastic or silicone, but through a healthy lifestyle.”

But Crockett said The Independent in an interview to be released later this week that other dynamics were at play.

“When AOC intervened so quickly, what people didn’t see off camera was that Ayanna Pressley was ready to intervene and got up and…was going to get into a fight,” Crockett said. The Independent.

She also said Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, similarly defended her. When Greene first made her attack, Raskin reportedly said, “That’s beneath even you, Mrs. Greene.”

“They have no idea that Raskin was also in the middle of this and we weren’t going back and forth with Comer,” said Crockett, a freshman Democrat.

Ocasio-Cortez, in turn, praised Crockett’s skills in Congress.

“I think Congresswoman Crockett brings that prosecutorial legal perspective, which is both vocal and I think combines her legal and professional experience, with the ability to break it down for everyday people, which I think is a great asset,” she told The Independent.

Crockett said she appreciated having communities of Black women on the committee.

“The biggest story that came out of this was what black women face at work,” she said. “When you’re alone, people take liberties, but when they realize you’re not alone, it definitely puts them in a different light and in a different stance.”