Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is once again facing criticism after The Atlantic staff writer Elaine Godfrey reported that she was removed from a Crockett Senate campaign rally in Lubbock on Monday.
Godfrey wrote Thursday that she was escorted out of the event by armed security after spending about an hour at the rally covering Crockett’s campaign.
“Right before armed guards escorted me from the rally and left me on the edge of a Texas-county road, I was informed that I was no longer welcome at an event that I had already attended,” Godfrey wrote.
According to her account, she had identified herself at the entrance and was allowed into the press area. Later, after she began interviewing attendees, a staff member approached her.
“‘Are you Elaine?’ she asked. I recognized her from the entrance of the event, where I had identified myself as she’d waved me into the building’s press area. Yes, I answered. ‘Her team has asked you to leave,’ she said. When I asked why, the staffer looked at her phone and read dutifully: ‘They just said, “Elaine from Atlantic, white girl with a hat and notepad. She’s interviewing people in the crowd. She’s a top-notch hater and will spin. She needs to leave,”’” Godfrey wrote.
Crockett disputed that account in comments to CBS journalist Shawna Mizelle on Wednesday, saying there was “no evidence” that The Atlantic reporter had been removed from the event. She characterized the situation as “silly season” and suggested that a “specific journalist” at the event had a “history of being less than truthful” and had previously lost a defamation lawsuit against her.
Godfrey responded that she has never been sued by Crockett.
“Perhaps she was thinking of someone else, because that’s not something that has ever happened to me,” Godfrey wrote.
The incident prompted criticism on social media, including from commentators who questioned how Crockett’s campaign was handling press scrutiny.
A pro-Democrat Mormon account on X wrote that if Crockett “cannot handle questions from The Atlantic, and can’t do it without her staff calling the reporter a ‘white girl….top notch hater’ she will never survive the election.”
Journalist Zaid Jilani wrote that he questioned “how in the world” Crockett expects to “win over enough Texans” if she “can’t get along with Atlantic magazine reporters,” noting that many of them “vote Democrat.”
Former CNN journalist Chris Cillizza wrote, “This is so bad by @JasmineForUS. Not ready for primetime sort of stuff.”
The episode follows earlier tensions between Crockett and Godfrey. In July, Godfrey authored a profile of Crockett that included comments from fellow House Democrats. Godfrey wrote at the time that Crockett reacted strongly to the piece after publication.
“She was, she told me, ‘shutting down the profile and revoking all permissions,’” Godfrey wrote.
Crockett, a member of the House Democratic caucus known for her combative exchanges in congressional hearings and outspoken criticism of Republicans, has drawn both praise from supporters and scrutiny from critics over her rhetoric and campaign style. In recent months, she has faced backlash from conservative commentators over her sharp remarks during House proceedings, as well as criticism from some Democrats who have questioned whether her confrontational approach could complicate a statewide bid in Texas.
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