Crockett’s viral moment causes some to cringe

When Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) went viral with her “bleach blonde bad built butch body” remark hurled at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, she won waves of applause from many on the left glad to see someone stand up to the Georgia Republican. 

Yet there were also some who cringed, particularly as the alliterative insult sunk in.

In attacking Greene, who had earlier made a nasty comment about Crockett’s eyelashes, Crockett used language that also felt demeaning to an entire category of people. 

“While I was proud of Rep. Crockett for advocating for herself as fiercely as she advocates for others, I was upset at the inclusion of the word ‘butch’ in her take down of MTG,” said Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs for the National Black Justice Coalition.  

“As I feared, homophobic and misogynist people used her words as an opportunity to attack masculine-presenting women and women with naturally occurring masculine features,” York told The Hill in an email.

While the word “butch” is not itself an insult, Crockett used the descriptor for women whose gender presentation leans more typically masculine as a slight against Greene.

Crockett later posted a message on the social platform X that appeared to apologize for the use of the term, saying she has and “will always stand 10 toes down with the community & meant no harm to anyone in the community.”

Yet she also plans to move forward with the sale of T-shirts that repeat the slogan in its entirety, a decision she defended during a Thursday morning appearance on “The View.” 

“When I set out to do the trademark … it was because there was a demand,” she said, later adding that fundraising off the viral moment will help her “save our democracy.” 

Crockett, who represents Texas’s solidly blue 30th Congressional District, is up for reelection this year but does not have a Republican opponent. She won the Democratic primary in March with more than 90 percent of the vote.

“As a fan of Rep. Crockett, I assume she intended her remarks to be specific to MTG and not broadly,” York said.

“However, the brilliant legal and parliamentary rule she leveraged to ask for clarification set her words up to be easily misconstrued. Butch women, tom boys, and women with conditions such as hirsutism, alopecia, micromastia, deep voices have spent the last several days with newsfeeds full of posts of women like them being memed and made fun of alongside affirming comments focused on Rep. Crockett reclaiming her power after MTG’s insults.” 

Memes applauding Crockett have proliferated on social media. Some supporters wrote country, rap and even gospel songs that quickly went viral as well. 

Greene, a former CrossFit gym owner, shared a video of herself lifting weights on social media shortly after the exchange. “Yes my body is built and strong,” she wrote, “NOT with nips, tucks, plastic, or silicone, but through a healthy lifestyle.” 

Greene since her election to the House in 2021 has frequently targeted LGBTQ rights. She previously called for an end to LGBTQ Pride Month, which is celebrated each year in June. 

“[Crockett’s] clapback is just as brilliant with one alliterative word removed — butch,” York said. “I hope everyone thinking of capitalizing off this viral moment, including Rep. Crockett, removes butch from the alliteration.”

That doesn’t appear to be the case, however. On Wednesday, a fundraising email from President Biden’s reelection campaign that featured a message from Crockett was sent with the subject line “BBBBBB,” an apparent reference to Crockett’s insult. 

National LGBTQ advocacy organizations that normally chastise members of Congress and public figures that use disparaging language against the community have remained relatively quiet on Crockett’s remarks.

Requests for comment to the LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD, the Congressional Equality Caucus — of which Crockett is a member —and the Human Rights Campaign went unanswered. 

Crockett’s office also did not return a request for comment.