There were a variety of media hot takes on last week’s viral insult-fight during a House Oversight Committee hearing, but nearly all of them came to the same conclusion: GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was at fault.
Sure, Greene was responsible for the inciting incident during last week’s tense hearing, lobbing the first insult after Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas questioned her over her decision to use the occasion to wonder aloud how many of the committee members were in business with the daughter of Trump trial Judge Juan Merchan; she just happens to be a Democratic political operative whose clients have been fundraising off of the so-called “hush money” case, which is kind of a big deal.
“I think you know what you’re here for,” Greene told Crockett. “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”
That was relatively awful, even if MTG may have had her reasons for it. Whatever high road Crockett could have taken after Greene struck her remarks without an apology was quickly abandoned, however, with Crockett mocking what she called Greene’s “bleached blonde, bad-built, butch body.”
The headlines were nearly unanimous in declaring Greene the worst offender during what, in fairness, was a unique display of wretchedness. The Hill: “Greene fracas at hearing leaves lawmakers shaking their heads.” The New Republic: “AOC Reveals Darker Intentions Behind MTG Hearing Chaos.” CNN: “‘I’m not apologizing’: Marjorie Taylor Greene clashes with Ocasio-Cortez as hearing devolves into chaos.”
AOC, to be fair, only got in one particularly memorable line in the Maury Povich-tastic session: “Oh girl, baby girl! Don’t even play!” However, say what you will about Greene, at least she’s not trying to trademark her insult.
I know that’s a low bar to give someone credit for. It’s a bar that Rep. Crockett can’t even clear.
According to USA Today, Crockett’s campaign filed a trademark for the phrase “BLEACH BLONDE BAD BUILT BUTCH BODY” on Sunday, potentially looking to put it on campaign merchandise.
As the outlet noted, after the exchange last week, “Crockett began advertising ‘A Crockett Clapback Collection’ on X, formerly Twitter.”
Is the House of Representatives out of control?
“This collection will feature various swag that includes random things I’ve said,” the post said. It included an image of a not-so-random Crockett “clapback” — namely the only one anyone knows.
Sales of the swag “will go to ensuring that we have a Democratic House!”
“Give me a little time to really get the swag online etc., but B6 will drop first,” Crockett said.
So we are going to drop “A Crockett Clapback Collection.” This collection will feature various swag that includes random things I’ve said. The money will go to ensuring that we have a Democratic House! Give me a little time to really get the swag online etc., but B6 will drop… pic.twitter.com/7RnPQ4jVHs
— Jasmine Crockett (@JasmineForUS) May 18, 2024
Yes, the alliterative insult is apparently known as “B6” now, for the six words that began with B that she used. And who says the left can’t meme? Oh, and she spelled her name wrong, too:
Who’s Crockrtt??? pic.twitter.com/ngHR2mES3j
— Bryan McNally (@BryanDMcNally) May 18, 2024
No word yet on whether Crockett’s other tirade from the House Oversight Committee session aimed at Greene and Republicans — “No! Don’t tell me to calm down because y’all talk noise and then you can’t take it! Because if I come and talk s*** about her, y’all gonna have a problem!” — will make it onto a T-shirt. There’s no trademark for that one yet, however. Fingers crossed!
This is patently silly stuff — and it’s worth pointing out that just because Crockett decided to trademark her shameful behavior doesn’t make anything Greene said or did any more appealing.
However, it goes to illustrate a point. Last week, USA Today was noting in its headline for the video how “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘fake eyelashes’ jab causes chaos in House committee meeting.”
On Monday, it was the slightly more cheeky, somewhat less judgmental, “Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s viral ‘Bleach blonde bad built butch body’: coming to t-shirts soon?”
With MTG, it’s sheer chaos, even though she had her remarks stricken from the record. With Crockett, the tone is basically “Hey, when can we get the swag lol?”
The whole entire incident and how the aftermath was handled has been shameful for pretty much everyone involved — and that includes both AOC and Crockett, two lawmakers the media is loath to rope into the shamefulness equation because they’re Democrats. The fact is that they did just as much to debase the House Oversight Committee as Greene did — and, in Crockett’s case, she’s trademarking her despicable insult in a blatant cashgrab. And the media hardly noticed.
If the criticism manages to get criticism from serious lawmakers — probably Republicans, although Democratic Sen. John Fetterman might be a dark horse for the spoilsport honors — watch how quickly the media line shifts to “but MTG made her do it.” If it takes more than a minute, count me among the stunned.
If it takes Crockett another minute to start the trademark application for “MTG Made Me Do It,” I’ll be even more stunned.
