Marjorie Taylor Greene claims fellow lawmaker was ‘physically aggressive’ toward her

Georgia congressman says he apologised after attempting a ‘friendly gesture’

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was involved in an incident which resulted in her describing a GOP colleague’s actions as physically aggressive.

CNN reported on Tuesday that Ms Greene met privately last week with Speaker Mike Johnson and accused Rep Richard McCormick, a Republican from her home state of Georgia, of physically grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

The two were speaking about a duelling resolution that Mr McCormick had offered to censure Rep Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat and frequent target of GOP wrath. The GOP caucus led multiple attempts to censure Ms Tlaib over comments she made in support of the Palestinian people that some argued denied Israel’s right to exist. Two of those attempts were resolutions by Ms Greene — they both failed, with Mr McCormick’s finally passing.

The bad blood allegedly spilled over in their conversation when Mr McCormick’s attempts to smooth things over with Ms Greene were rebuffed. Mr McCormick told CNN that he was attempting a “friendly gesture” and did not dispute making physical contact with Ms Greene.

Marjorie Taylor Greene at a House committee hearing in September (Getty Images)

“I understand why there would be a lot of raw emotions following the censure vote given that her censure was tabled and mine passed. My intention was to encourage Rep Greene by making a friendly gesture,” said the congressman “I said to her, ‘at least we can have an honest discussion,’ to which she said she did not appreciate that. For that, I immediately apologized and have not spoken to her since.”

CNN reports that Ms Greene disputed that characterisation of the events on Tuesday when contacted about Mr McCormick’s remarks, but the far-right congresswoman has not offered her own public take on the incident. Instead, she described it as a “serious” situation and has not gone into further detail, according to the network.

The Independent has also reached out to Ms Greene for her description of the incident. Her office has not responded.

Bad blood seems to be the norm in the GOP caucus these days; Ms Greene has engaged in multiple spats with her fellow Republican members, including most recently Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

GOP members have also lobbed criticism at each other on cable news for weeks following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House.