‘Come Over Here, Weenie!’ Footage Reveals How Tim Burchett’s Clash With Protester Escalated

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

Newly surfaced video has provided more context on Rep. Tim Burchett’s (R-TN) confrontation with a protester outside the Capitol last week, revealing a heckling exchange moments before the altercation.

Burchett explained the clash as an act of self-defense, retelling how the protester “bumped” him during a heated back-and-forth with demonstrators protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.

The new footage shows Burchett taunting the man after several demonstrators followed the congressman through the Capitol grounds, telling the protester to “come over here” and, at one point, calling him a “weenie,” according to Politico.

When one protester began walking away after a jab about billionaire George Soros, Politico reported that the video shows Burchett stepping forward and commenting that the man was “quivering.”

The demonstrator then spun back around, brushing the lawmaker’s torso before Burchett shoved him with both hands as bystanders gasped.

“The guy got in the congressman’s face,” Burchett spokesperson Will Garrett insisted. “They bumped stomachs and the congressman removed him from his face. People have a protected First Amendment right to protest … but they don’t have the right to physically bump into the congressman and the congressman acted in self-defense.”

Capitol Police intervened, but released the protester without charges. Garrett said officers asked whether Burchett wanted to press charges, and he declined.