Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) stated that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) remarks about her fake eyelashes during a committee hearing on Thursday were racially charged.
Throughout a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday evening, tensions escalated quickly when Greene commented, “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up your reading” while discussing a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt. Later in the heated session, Crockett made a reference to Greene’s “bleach blonde, bad-built, butch body.”
Crockett has since described Greene’s comments as “racist” and reiterated on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that she believes the remarks had racial undertones.
TAPPER: “Do you think her going after your eyelashes, that that, in itself, is racist?
CROCKETT: “I think her specifically doing it to me, yes, that was the intent.” pic.twitter.com/MDNWCWMaYQ
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) May 19, 2024
“I think her specifically doing it to me, yes, that was the intent,” Crockett said. “As has been stated, women wear makeup, we wear lashes, we wear all types of things to beautify ourselves. But MAGA has historically been on social media doing the things where they’re saying, oh, she’s black with lashes and nails and hair, and so she’s ghetto.”
“And so, to me, this was her buying into that rhetoric and trying to amplify this for the MAGA crowd. And so, yes, I absolutely think that she only did it to be racist towards me,” she added.
When questioned about her comments regarding Greene, Crockett explained she was seeking clarification on what would be permissible to say during the hearing.
“So, to be clear, what I asked for was clarification on the ruling. If her words were taken down, that meant that she was going to have to leave the committee for the evening, which actually would have helped everybody out, because the source of the chaos is always Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Crockett said. “But the chairman was concerned about his votes. He was concerned about whether or not he would be able to move forward with contempt.”
Crockett also mentioned she did not regret responding to Greene’s attack on her appearance with comments about Greene’s appearance.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) described the chaotic hearing on Thursday night as “regrettable” and encouraged maintaining decorum in future hearings.
“I think decorum is an important thing for us to maintain around here. And we’ve got to take the emotion out of these things, and deal with the issues on their substance,” Johnson remarked on Friday.
