NEW YORK — U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman Thursday accused Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of promoting racist tropes about Black men after she claimed to have felt “threatened” by his “physical mannerisms” during an argument on the steps of the Capitol.
Bowman, a Bronx Democrat who is Black, said Greene was spewing racist dog whistles when she claimed he should be monitored because she believes he acted “aggressively” during a verbal confrontation a day earlier.
“Black men continue to be characterized as aggressive and threatening when we are passionate and outspoken,” Bowman tweeted. “They’re not just using dog whistles, they’re using bullhorns.”
Greene earlier Thursday made no effort to hide her thoughts about Bowman, a former Bronx middle school principal.
“His physical mannerisms are aggressive,” Greene, who represents a deep-red rural Georgia district, said at an unrelated Capitol Hill press conference. “I think there’s a lot of concern about Jamaal Bowman. And I am concerned about it. I feel threatened by him.”
The two lawmakers were picking up where they left off the evening before with a war of words outside the Capitol.
The caught-on video confrontation started with Bowman and other progressive lawmakers heckling scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos, who escaped a possible expulsion vote when fellow Republicans referred his indictment to the ethics committee for a probe.
Bowman told Greene that the Republican Party needs to move away from right-wing radicalism.
“No more QAnon, no more MAGA, no more debt-ceiling nonsense,” he said.
Greene responded by pumping her fist and chanting: “Impeach Biden.”
Bowman advised her to “do something about guns,” prompting Greene to respond: “Right, so close the border.”
Despite the back-and-forth between the pair, the video showed the dispute never showed any sign of becoming physical.
