Jake Tapper Condemns GOP’s ‘Whitewashing’ of Marjorie Taylor Greene Conspiracy Theories

Tapper called Marjorie Taylor Greene’s remarks to Congress Thursday “the most disingenuous speech I’ve heard”

Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), speaking to Congress in January. Photo: Getty Images

Congress voted to strip conspiracy theorist, QAnon supporter and GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee duties Thursday, and the debate before her removal prompted plenty of reactions from her critics, including fellow politicians.

Before the vote to oust her from her duties on the Budget, Education, and Labor Committees, Greene gave a speech to the House of Representatives. It was framed as an apology, but Greene never actually apologized for anything and actually doubled down on her belief that the 2020 election was “stolen” from former president Trump.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper said the GOP is “whitewashing” Greene’s dangerous remarks, despite a mountain of social media and video evidence of her baseless rants and support for QAnon.

“I thought it was the most disingenuous speech I’ve heard,” Tapper said on CNN. “I wish I could say ever, but since a few weeks ago when the Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, acted outraged that anybody would be pushing the election lie that he himself had pushed for two months.”

“These anti-Semitic theories, QAnon, Pizzagate, all this nonsense and the big lie about the election — this has cost lives. That’s why people are discussing this and debating this — this cost lives. It enraged add mob that attacked Capitol Hill. And this is more of a lie, this is part of the whitewashing of all of that,” Tapper added.

Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy did nothing to reprimand Greene for her behavior during a closed-door session Wednesday, which riled up lawmakers on the other side of the aisle.

“Republicans will do anything to distract from the fact that they have not only allowed but elevated members of their own caucus who encourage violence,” Minn. Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar said Thursday. “It’s time to stop whitewashing the actions of the violent conspiracy theorists, who pose a direct and immediate threat to their fellow Members of Congress and our most fundamental democratic processes.”

Greene and Omar have clashed before — in 2019 when Omar and Michigan Democratic congresswoman Rashida Talaib were sworn in, Greene appeared on Capitol Hill to claim their membership wasn’t legal because they swore in using Quarans, not Bibles. It’s not mandatory to use a Bible to swear into Congress; members can use any religious text of their choosing. Greene has made Islamaphobic comments before, saying that Muslims “don’t belong” in America.

Conspiracy theories and outright falsehoods that Greene has promoted include Pizzagate, the idea that California wildfires were started by a “Jewish space laser,” and that school shootings like the massacres in Parkland and Newtown aren’t real, but staged by “crisis actors” as an attempt to weaken gun rights. Greene has also called for the execution of fellow Democratic lawmakers like Nancy Pelosi and expressed support for the MAGA mob that rioted at the Capitol after being incited to “take back the government” by Trump and QAnon.

Although Taylor Greene did admit that the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the Parkland school shooting did happen during her quasi-apology speech Thursday — “9/11 absolutely happened,” she said. “And it is a tragedy for anyone to say that it didn’t happen. I do not believe that it is fake.”

Greene is using the newfound attention this week to raise funds from her base — she’s gained roughly $250,000 this week.

California congressman Ted Lieu tweeted a video clip of Greene’s apology, where she said her comments were “words of the past,” noting, “Literally three days ago Marjorie Taylor Greene called people pedophiles if they were anti-Trump. The belief that a secret cabal of pedophiles controls government is one of the beliefs of Q.”

Read more reactions to the debate on Greene’s role in Congress below:

https://twitter.com/helaineolen/status/1357413756226084865?s=20

 

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