- Democratic MP Cori Bush is moving her offices to move away from MP Marjorie Taylor Greene.
- Bush said she is not moving because she is afraid, but because she has a job to do.
- Bush said that she and her team should not come to work concerned that Greene would want to harm them.
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Hours after Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush of Missouri said she was relocating because Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene scolded her in a hallway, the freshman lawmaker told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that she didn’t move out of fear but because work to do.
“What I can’t do is keep looking over my shoulder and wondering if a white supremacist in Congress named Marjorie Taylor Greene, or anyone else, because there are others … who are conspiring against us,” said Bush.
She said she the focus has to be on St. Louis and the people she represents. Bush also emphasized that his team members deserve to feel safe at work.
“They shouldn’t come to work and wonder if that door will open … and if it’s someone who doesn’t want to do it well,” said Bush.
Bush told Reid that, despite working in previous jobs in fast food, day care and health, she never had a work environment like the current one.
Greene responded to Bush’s TV appearance on Friday night, retweeting ReidOut and saying “Same @CoriBush” in reference to Bush’s comments about his current workplace.
“You must stop shouting and attacking people,” wrote Greene. “No surprise you joined @JoyAnnReid, she likes to lie too!”
Greene has been criticized in recent days for posts on social media that show his endorsement of conspiracy theories about school shootings and support for the execution of Democratic leaders. Greene later deleted the posts.
Friday afternoon, Greene tweeted a statement called “A message to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s crowd.” In it, she blamed the “left-wing Democratic mob” and the “Fake News media” for trying to discredit her.
“Every attack. Every lie. Every defamation strengthens my support base at home and across the country, because people know the truth and are fed up with 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 behind” her talking loudly on her phone without wearing a mask.
Bush reportedly asked Greene to put on a mask and Greene replied “scolding her”. Bush said a member of Greene’s team told her to stop “inciting violence with Black Lives Matter”.
Bush was an advocate of racial justice and police accountability before being elected to Congress.
Greene responded to the Bush movement by calling it a liar and tweeting a video of the meeting, saying that “I had the recipes”. The video shows Greene broadcasting live with his mask pulled down. Someone screams asking Greene to wear a mask and Greene replies “don’t yell at people” and “stop being a hypocrite”. A Greene official can be heard telling Bush to stop inciting violence.
Bush directed the video on “The ReidOut”, saying it just further proves the truth of his account.
“For her to make it a Black Lives Matter issue, it wasn’t that,” Bush said. “You must be concerned enough about your colleagues, and if you don’t believe … that this is a real health crisis … if you don’t honor it … then leave this job. It’s not for you.”
“She can say what she wants, but the fact is, she didn’t have a mask in that tunnel, and I absolutely did.”
Bush said the issue is not just about Greene, but relevant to any member of Congress who does not wear a mask.
“Comply with the rules so that we can do our job,” she said.