New video footage undermines Rep. Tim Burchett’s spin on an ugly dustup with a protester—suggesting he may have been the aggressor instead of the victim.
After the pair were separated, Burchett’s office insisted the protester “bumped” the congressman and that Burchett acted in self-defense.
But videos reviewed by Politico apparently show MAGA Rep. Burchett initiating the encounter, with the Tennessee Republican telling the demonstrator, “Come over here, weenie.”
This prompted the man to step in close, get in the lawmaker’s face, and shoot back, “You just came to me dodo brain.”
Burchett then suggests liberal philanthropist George Soros is paying the protester.
The man turns away, appearing to walk off, but Burchett closes the distance again and says he looks “quivering.”
The protester turns around to shoot something back, and, in the quick pivot, their torsos make contact. Burchett then shoves him with both hands.
As onlookers react, the protester yells, “I didn’t touch him. I didn’t touch him.”
The Capitol Hill clash happened outside the Longworth House Office Building on Thursday amid shouting over the Israel–Hamas war.
Burchett’s spokesperson, Will Garrett, doubled down Monday. “They bumped stomachs, and the congressman removed him from his face… [People] don’t have the right to physically bump into the congressman, and the congressman acted in self-defense.”
He added that Capitol Police asked if they wanted to press charges, but they declined.
A Capitol Police spokesperson did not comment. The protester was questioned and released.
Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick witnessed the shove and praised Burchett’s “restraint.”
The Politico review also gives a different context to initial accounts pushed by right-leaning outlets, portraying the demonstrator as the sole aggressor.
Burchett—a vocal Israel and pro-Trump supporter—has jousted with anti-war activists before.
In June, he introduced a House resolution attacking a U.N. move that put the Israel Defense Forces on a list of children’s rights offenders, and in past viral clips, he’s traded insults with hecklers.
The Daily Beast has contacted Burchett’s office for comment.
