A showdown ensued on Capitol Hill Friday when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi challenged a Republican congressman over inflammatory remarks he made about the Democrats' handling of the nation's border crisis.
As Fox News reported, the fray began when Republican Tom Marino, from Pennsylvania, said Democrats did not do enough to address immigration when Pelosi was speaker of the then Democrat-controlled House five years ago.
"Under leadership of the former speaker...when in 2009 and 2010, they had the House, the Senate and the White House, and they knew this problem existed," Representative Marino said according to Fox News. "They didn't have the strength to go after it back then.
"But now they are trying to make a political issue out of it now," he added.
Marino made the comments during a House debate on the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of immigrants, many of them unaccompanied minors, are crossing illegally into the U.S. from Central America.
Cameras in the House chamber show Pelosi walking from the Democrat side across to the Republican side moments after Marino's comments. It is rare for House members to walk to the other party's side, according to Fox News.
The recording did not clearly capture what Pelosi said, but Marino immediately said, "It's true, madam leader, I did the research."
"You might want to try it, madam leader...Do the research. I did it. That's the one thing that you don't do," he said according to the station.
Marino was told he must direct what he has to say to the chair and not to Pelosi.
"Apparently I hit the right nerve," Marino said. Pelosi then walks strait across the chamber towards Marino and wags her finger at him.
"What is she doing?" Representative Nita Lowey was heard saying out of the camera's view, according to Fox News.
After the incident, Marino Tweeted that Pelosi called him an "insignificant person."
A spokeswoman for the former House speaker told The Hill that Pelosi only wanted to remind Marino that House Democrats "have the courage to stand up for what the American people want: bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform," and that they had the courage to pass the DREAM Act.
Pelosi also accepted Marino's apology, the spokeswoman said.
Marino said he was not singling Pelosi out when he made his comments, The Hill reported.
Right after the incident, the House passed a bill approving $694 million for border security.
