A Republican congresswoman who has promoted false and alarming conspiracy theories, including those with ties to the QAnon movement, is facing renewed scrutiny over her social media use in years prior to her taking office.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) “liked” several controversial posts from supporters on her social media accounts and made a few of her own, according to a review of her social media accounts from 2018 and 2019. Among the most worrisome posts that Greene was involved in was an interaction with a fan who suggested Democratic leaders in Congress deserved to be executed.
Greene clicked “like” on a comment in 2019, for instance, that proposed putting “a bullet to the head” of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in order to remove her from her position in Congress. In another post, after a follower discussed the Iran nuclear deal that was implemented under the Obama administration and asked, “Now do we get to hang them ?? Meaning H & O ???” (referring to Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama), Greene responded by saying the “stage is being set.”
“We must be patient,” Greene added in her response to the user’s comment. “This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off.”
After some of Greene’s posts were highlighted by reporting from CNN, she attempted to justify her social media behavior by blaming “teams of people” who have managed her accounts in the past. She also called the network’s reporting “fake news,” blasting it as “another hit piece on me focused on my time before running for political office.”
Whether written by her or not, it is generally understood that lawmakers and other political figures are responsible for the content of their social media accounts, as they are ultimately the ones who make decisions about who they hire or delegate to post or like social media content on their behalf.
Other posts from Greene have demonstrated a number of controversial views — including false beliefs in 9/11 conspiracy theories and promoting the errant idea that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a staged event. Greene has also promoted antisemitic and anti-Muslim viewpoints in her social media posts.
Greene’s views and support of conspiracies are so extreme that she has even stated openly her belief in a theory called “Frazzledrip,” which claims there is video evidence, obtained from disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s laptop showing Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin, Weiner’s ex-wife, mutilating a young child’s face in a Satanic ritual sacrifice and drinking the child’s blood.
Such a video does not exist and the claim is patently false. Yet, when a follower on Greene’s Facebook page in 2018 alluded to the conspiracy theory, Greene congratulated them for knowing about the false claim.
“I post things sometimes to see who knows things,” she wrote. “Most the time people don’t. I’m glad to see your comment.”
Her behavior in Washington, D.C., has also been questioned. In a tweet shared by Fred Guttenberg, a father of one of the students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 (another school shooting that Greene has expressed doubts over being real), a video purports to show Greene following and harassing David Hogg, a survivor of that shooting. In that video, Greene can be seen asking Hogg why he supports regulations on gun ownership, as well as questioning him over how he was able to get appointments with lawmakers and press coverage for his cause.
.@mtgreenee, is this you harassing @davidhogg111 weeks after the Parkland shooting, that my daughter was killed in & he was in? Calling him a coward for ignoring your insanity. I will answer all of your questions in person. Get ready to record again.pic.twitter.com/aQjL74x7kh
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) January 27, 2021
The controversy behind these past statements and her more recent actions (including calling for the impeachment of newly inaugurated President Joe Biden on his first day in office) have prompted GOP leadership, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California), to respond publicly with an assurance that they are being addressed.
“These comments are deeply disturbing and Leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them,” McCarthy spokesman Mark Bednar said this week.
Greene’s controversial comments have been well-known, however, within Republican Party politics for some time. During her primary race last year, for example, her support of the QAnon conspiracy theory prompted her opponent at the time to state that she “deserves a YouTube channel, not a seat in Congress.”
Despite pushback from the GOP establishment in her race, Greene won the primary and cruised on to win the House seat in the safe Republican district. Former President Donald Trump, at the time of her primary win, called her a “future Republican Star.”
McCarthy’s recent attempts at assurances do not appear to be enough for everyone. The progressive advocacy organization People For the American Way (PFAW) has formally called for Greene to be removed from the House of Representatives altogether over her comments, a process that would require support from two-thirds of that legislative body in order to succeed.
“U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is unfit for public office, and we demand that she be expelled from Congress,” PFAW President Ben Jealous said in a statement.
Citing the comments she has made on social media in the past as well as her disbelief in the Sandy Hook shooting and other QAnon conspiracy theories, Jealous said that her words are “dangerous and unacceptable.”
“We have seen what violent rhetoric and the spread of misinformation does to our nation and we demand that she be removed from public office,” Jealous added.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado) has also suggested Greene may deserve expulsion from the House, even before reporting drew public attention to her internet posts this week. Earlier this month, after a crowd of Trump loyalists attacked the U.S. Capitol building, Crow said that Greene’s previous comments and continued belief in QAnon ideas warranted consideration of her censure or even removal from her position.
“We’re looking at our options within the House as to how we stop this. And whether this is an expulsion proceeding, a censure, we can’t let this stand,” Crow said on January 13.
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