Rep. Bowman calls out Rep. Taylor Greene’s comments about him as 'dangerous' and 'reckless'

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., responded to remarks made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene earlier in the day in which she said he is “aggressive” and that she feels “threatened by him.” The lawmakers engaged in an argument on the Capitol steps on Wednesday. Invoking the history of violence against Black men after he was described as aggressive, Bowman said her remarks were “incredibly dangerous and incredibly reckless.

Video Transcript

JAMAAL BROWN: Marjorie Taylor Greene in her press conference this morning said something incredibly dangerous and incredibly reckless about me, talking about my demeanor as being aggressive and saying that she feels intimidated by it.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: And then, on the Capitol steps yesterday, he was the one that approached me. Even CNN reported that. Yelling, shouting, raising his voice, he has aggressive-- his physical mannerisms are aggressive. I think there's a lot of concern about Jamaal Bowman and I am concerned about it. I feel threatened by him.

JAMAAL BROWN: Unfortunately, this country has a history of characterizing Black men who are outspoken, who stand their ground, and who push back, as being threatening or intimidating. So she's not even using a dog whistle. She's using a bullhorn to put a target on my back to the people that she refers to as MAGA, people out there who might want to cause harm. This is the same reason why Mike Brown was killed. This is one of the reasons why Emmett Till was killed.

And throughout history, Black men have continued to be characterized as aggressive because, one, because of our skin color, but two, because we happen to be outspoken and passionate about certain issues.

- Because of your race, what she said was racist?

JAMAAL BROWN: It's reckless and dangerous, what she said, OK? Characterizing me. And my interaction with her yesterday, I never invaded her personal space. I was laughing and gregarious the entire time. How was that intimidating? What was intimidating about that? So she goes to the press conference today and say that she's intimidated by me and my mannerisms are aggressive. Anyone who's interacted with me, anyone who knows me, even reporters here know.

I'm a middle school principal and then I'm always loving and engaging and friendly, except when kids are being killed in our streets. Everyone should be outraged about that. So do not conflate what my engagement with representative Massie, with my engagement with her yesterday was completely different. But she knows what she's doing when she does that. And unfortunately, white supremacists, historically, this is what they do. They try to dehumanize Black people, Black skin, and the Black humanity, so that they can be, you know, more likely to be targeted for harm.