WASHINGTON — Congressional hearings are regularly acrimonious, however they not often descend into the sort of private assault that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., waged towards lecturers’ union chief Randi Weingarten at a House hearing final week on pandemic-related college closures, a difficulty that continues to excite sturdy passions.
These passions had been expressed in a “very homophobic” approach by the outspoken congresswoman, Weingarten advised Yahoo Information final Friday. The listening to had taken place two days earlier than, however she was nonetheless plainly rattled by the trade.
In the course of the listening to, Greene repeatedly famous that Weingarten isn’t a “organic mom,” a seeming reference to the truth that the 65-year-old American Federation of Academics president is married to a girl, Sharon Kleinbaum, a rabbi on the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue. She sat behind Weingarten in the course of the listening to.
“She was simply trying to dehumanize me,” Weingarten mentioned of Greene.
Weingarten advised Yahoo Information that she has been pressured to journey with a safety guard since November of final 12 months, when former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called her “the most dangerous person in the world.”
And he or she mentioned the trade with Greene has resulted in a flood of “vile” emails, a lot of them homophobic or antisemitic.
Weingarten was the only witness on the listening to, which was carried out by a subcommittee of the Republican-controlled Home Oversight Committee that’s tasked with investigating the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, had opened the listening to by pleading with members of each events to deal with the subject at hand, which was whether or not the AFT unduly influenced Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention pointers on college reopenings.
Emails beforehand made public confirmed Weingarten asking for amendments within the steerage, a request the influential union chief mentioned was not out of bounds and one among many inputs that the CDC thought-about.
Republicans disagreed, however none with extra vehemence than Greene, a hard-right congresswoman with a penchant for controversy.
Greene mentioned Weingarten mustn’t have had any say within the reopening pointers as a result of she’s “not a medical physician, not a organic mom and, actually, not a trainer, both.”
Kleinbaum has two daughters from a earlier marriage, as Weingarten famous, however that didn’t seem to fulfill Greene, who has made gender and race points a centerpiece of her legislative profession.
“Let me inform you, I’m a mom, and all three of my kids had been immediately affected by the varsity closures — by your suggestions — which is one thing you can’t perceive,” Greene mentioned. (Her insistence on “organic” motherhood appeared to invalidate not solely the experiences of LGBTQ dad and mom but in addition of those that change into dad and mom by means of adoption or remarriage after divorce.)
“Someplace, Ronald Reagan, an adoptive parent who gave conservatism a pleasant face, is shaking his head,” former White Home speechwriter David Kusnet wrote on Twitter of Greene’s assertion.
The congresswoman’s workplace didn’t return a request for remark.
Greene additionally produced a chart displaying that diagnoses of gender dysphoria rose in the course of the pandemic, a development she attributed to time spent on social media platforms.
“There may be one factor I do agree along with her about,” Weingarten mentioned on Friday, “which is that we have to do extra to carry tech corporations accountable, as a result of the algorithms and these different issues are literally making youngsters really feel unhealthy about themselves.”
Earlier this month, Home Republicans handed a invoice that may prevent transgender girls from joining school-based sports teams designated for girls. Transgender rights have emerged as a prime tradition conflict concern for many Republican voters.
As Greene’s interplay with Weingarten got here to an finish, the lawmaker returned to her declare that the union chief isn’t a real mom. “Individuals like it’s essential admit that you simply’re only a political activist, not a trainer, not a mom, not a medical physician,” she mentioned on the conclusion of her diatribe.
Democrats unsuccessfully tried to have her assaults on Weingarten stricken from the Congressional Document, however Wenstrup mentioned Home guidelines wouldn’t allow him to take action.
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