Our opinion: Unstable Greene tough to quiet
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has made her political career saying outrageous things, things that fly in the face of common sense and common decency, but resonate with the faction of the Republican Party that still kneels before Donald Trump.
Recently, while addressing the New York Young Republicans, Rep. Greene said something not only outrageous, but treasonous. Speaking about the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, “I gotta tell you something: If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would have been armed.”
When the outrage storm hit, Greene backtracked a bit, saying she was being “sarcastic.”
“My comments were making fun of Joe Biden and the Democrats, who have continuously made me a political target since January 6th,” she told CNN.
It’s too soon to be making jokes about the attack on the Capitol and on Congress. It may never be OK to make light of an attack by an inflamed mob which intended to stop Congress from verifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in hopes of keeping Trump in power. It’s not a joke to the families of the four people who died that day, the hundred or so law enforcement officers who were injured, or to the 1,000 or so participants who have been indicted, with many convicted, for their actions.
It’s not the first outrageous statement Greene has delivered. In a campaign video this past election, she compared Democrats to destructive feral hogs, then, climbed into a helicopter with a rifle, took off and shot a fleeing hog. She has espoused QAnon theories, stated a wildfire in California was started by a laser beam from space controlled by a prominent Jewish banking family, and claimed the Equality Act to outlaw anti-LGBTQ discrimination would “destroy God’s creation.” She called the Democratic Party the “Party of Pedophilia” for confirming Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
If there is anyone in Congress who should be marginalized and ignored, it is Greene. But House Speaker hopeful Kevin McCarthy is actually cozying up to her and promising plum committee assignments.That’s hardly leadership.