Marjorie Taylor Greene
Official portrait, 2022
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 14th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2021
Preceded by	Tom Graves
Personal details
Born	Marjorie Taylor (1974-05-27) May 27, 1974 (age 49) Milledgeville, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Perry Greene ​ ​ ( m. 1995; div. 2022)​
Children	3
Residence(s)	Rome, Georgia, U.S.
Education	University of Georgia ( BBA)
Signature
Website	House website

Marjorie Taylor Greene ( née Taylor; born May 27, 1974), also known by her initials MTG, ^[1] is an American far-right ^[2] politician, businesswoman, and conspiracy theorist ^[3] who has been the U.S. representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district since 2021. ^[4] A member of the Republican Party, she was elected to Congress in 2020 following the retirement of Republican incumbent Tom Graves and was reelected in 2022. ^[5]

Greene has promoted antisemitic, white supremacist, and far-right conspiracy theories, including the white genocide conspiracy theory, ^{[6] [7]} QAnon, and Pizzagate. ^{[8] [9]} Other extremist conspiracy theories ^{[10] [11]} she has promoted include government involvement in mass shootings in the United States, baseless allegations of murder against the Clinton family, and 9/11 conspiracy theories. ^{[12] [13]} Before running for Congress, she supported calls to execute prominent Democratic Party politicians, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. ^[14] As a congresswoman, she equated the Democratic Party with Nazis, and compared COVID-19 safety measures to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, ^{[15] [16] [17]} later apologizing for this comparison. ^[18] During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Greene promoted Russian propaganda and praised Vladimir Putin. ^[19] Greene identifies as a Christian nationalist. ^[20]

A strong supporter of former president Donald Trump, Greene aided and supported Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election and has since supported Trump's false claims of a stolen election. ^[21] She called for the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia to be decertified, ^[22] and was part of a group of Republican legislators who unsuccessfully challenged votes for Joe Biden during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, even though federal agencies and courts overseeing the election found no evidence of electoral fraud. ^[23] Days after Biden's inauguration, Greene filed articles of impeachment alleging abuse of power. ^{[24] [25]}

On February 4, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove her from all committee roles, in response to her statements and endorsements of political violence. Eleven Republicans joined the unanimous Democrats in the vote. ^{[26] [27]} She was appointed to new committee roles in January 2023. ^{[28] [29]} In June 2023, Greene was expelled from the conservative House Freedom Caucus after insulting Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, another member of the caucus. ^[30]

Early life and education

Marjorie Taylor ^[31] was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, on May 27, 1974, ^[32] the daughter of Robert Taylor. ^[31] She graduated from South Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia in 1992, ^{[33] [34]} and the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1996. ^{[34] [35]}

In statements made in 2019 ^[36] and in a February 4, 2021 House floor speech, Greene explained her position on gun rights and school shootings. In those remarks, she alluded to being affected by a September 1990 incident at her high school in which an armed student held 53 students hostage for over five hours. ^{[37] [38]}

Early career and activism

In 2002, Greene's father sold Taylor Commercial, an Alpharetta, Georgia-based general-contracting company that he had founded, to Greene and her then-husband, Perry. ^{[31] [34] [39]} As of 2019, Greene and Perry were the company's vice president and president, respectively. ^[34]

Greene was listed as the chief financial officer of Taylor Commercial from 2007 to 2011, ^[31] but a 2021 Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation determined that she had no significant presence at the company. ^[40] In 2011, Greene stepped down as the company's CFO and began CrossFit training. ^[40]

By 2012, Greene was working as a part-time coach at an Alpharetta CrossFit gym. ^[31] In August 2013, she co-founded a CrossFit gym, CrossFit Passion, in Alpharetta, along with Travis Mayer, a CrossFit athlete, before leaving the business in early 2017. ^[41] In a 2015 interview, Greene said that when she and Mayer founded the gym, they knew little about how to run a business. ^[40]

In 2021, Greene said that she became politically engaged during the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries. ^[42] Beginning in 2017, she wrote 59 articles as a correspondent for the now defunct American Truth Seekers, a conspiracy news website, ^[43] and beginning in January 2018, 27 articles for Law Enforcement Today, ^{[44] [45]} a pro-police fake news website. ^{[46] [47]} In 2017, Greene visited Washington, D.C. to protest against a Republican gun control compromise. ^[48]

Greene was a top official of the Family America Project, a conservative group founded in January 2018. She was a moderator of the organization's Facebook group. In that group, members posted death threats against Democrats; bigotry directed at the Obamas; and support for multiple conspiracy theories, including claims associated with the John Birch Society about the U.S. government being infiltrated by communists. ^{[49] [a]}

In February 2019, Greene visited the U.S. Capitol and congressional offices. ^[50] In a livestream video Greene posted on Facebook, she is seen outside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's office, calling through the mail slot for Ocasio-Cortez to unlock the door and "face the American citizens that you serve". She also asserted that Ocasio-Cortez should "get rid of [her] diaper". ^[51] Greene also referred to Ocasio-Cortez's office as a day care center. ^[52] When visiting the offices of Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, Greene falsely claimed that they were not "official" representatives because they were sworn in to Congress on the Quran. ^[50] In the videos, Greene said that she wanted Omar and Tlaib to instead be sworn in on the Bible and accused the two representatives of supporting Islamic law. ^{[53] [54]}

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

Primary election

Having originally announced her intention to run in Georgia's 7th congressional district, ^[44] Greene instead began her campaign in the 6th district, where she resided, on June 4, 2019. ^{[55] [b]} She stated her commitment to balance the federal budget and restrain Congress from using its constitutional power to spend new money into existence, adding: "If we look at our country as our household, we're going to go under foreclosure because we're overspending." ^[55] Greene also criticized her expected primary opponent, former U.S. representative Karen Handel, for supporting large omnibus spending bills and a series of electoral losses: "She's lost seven races in her entire political career... She steps down from seats that she does win so she can campaign for something else. Basically I would call her [a] professional campaigner, but she loses." ^[55]

On December 13, 2019, Greene announced that she was shifting her campaign to the 14th district after incumbent Tom Graves announced he would not run for reelection there. ^[56] The district includes much of Northwest Georgia, stretching from the Georgia side of the Chattanooga metropolitan area to the exurbs of Atlanta. Members of the House are constitutionally required to live in the state they represent, but not necessarily in the same congressional district. ^[57] Hence, although Greene had long lived in Milton, in the 6th district, ^[44] there would have been no legal barrier to Greene running for the 14th. Still, she said she intended to move to the 14th if she ran there. ^[58] She subsequently bought a home in nearby Paulding County, which is in the 14th. ^[59] By the time she was sworn in in January 2021, Greene reported having moved to Rome, also firmly in the 14th. ^[60]

On February 29, 2020, Greene spoke at a gun rights rally in Villanow hosted by Silent No Longer, a group campaigning to make Walker County a Second Amendment sanctuary. ^[61] At the rally, ^{[62] [63]} she held up a banner for American Patriots USA – a far-right group attempting to further its influence with Georgia Republicans. ^{[64] [65]} Greene posed for photos with Chester Doles, a 5th-generation Ku Klux Klansman, Grand Klaliff leader, and founder of APUSA; ^{[66] [67]} Doles has nearly a dozen assault arrests and served two separate prison sentences in Maryland. ^{[66] [68]}

Greene campaigned as a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump but was not endorsed by him. She ran on the slogan "Save America, Stop Socialism!" ^{[69] [70]} In the days before the primary, Facebook took down a Greene video for violating its terms of service. In the video, Greene held an AR-15 style rifle and warned antifa groups to "stay the hell out of Northwest Georgia". ^[69]

Greene finished first in the June 9 primary. Trump tweeted, "A big winner". Because no candidate received a majority of the vote, she faced neurosurgeon John Cowan in a runoff election. ^{[66] [71]} Although Cowan was a Trump supporter, Greene labeled him a RINO, meaning he was a Republican in Name Only. ^[72]

Runoff election

In a July 14 runoff debate, Cowan questioned Taylor Commercial's acceptance of Paycheck Protection Program money in relation to Greene's opposition to congressional appropriations of relief funds during the pandemic and also Taylor Commercial's donations to Greene's political campaign. ^{[74] [75] [76]} Taylor Commercial received $182,300 in PPP funding from the Small Business Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. ^{[77] [78] [79]} SBA filings declared Taylor Commercial expected to save 12 jobs with the funds. ^[80] Around two months after her company received the PPP loan, Greene donated $450,000 to her campaign. ^{[79] [74] [75]}

Greene won the August 11 runoff. ^[72] On the day after her runoff victory, Trump tweeted his support for her, calling her a future Republican star. ^[81]

General election

Greene was considered an overwhelming favorite to win the seat in the general election, as the 14th district typically votes heavily Republican. ^[83] In 2017 The Cook Political Report ranked the district the 10th-most Republican in the country. ^[84]

On September 3, 2020, Greene shared a meme to her Facebook page depicting herself holding an AR-15 style rifle next to a collage of pictures of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Tlaib. She wrote that it was time for "strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart"; the caption under the images was " Squad's worst nightmare". ^[85] Nancy Pelosi called the meme a threat of violence, and Omar demanded that it be deleted after claiming it had triggered death threats. ^[86] In response to questions from Forbes about whether the meme was a threat, a Greene campaign spokesperson dismissed that idea. ^[87] Facebook deleted the meme the next day for violating its policies on inciting violence, prompting Greene to claim that Democrats were trying to " cancel" her. ^[88] On September 19, 2020, ^[89] Greene appeared at a gun rights rally in Ringgold, Georgia, where the Georgia III% Martyrs provided security "wearing camouflage, body armor, radios, and in one case a battle ax". ^{[90] [91]} During the rally, Greene had Chester Doles – with whom she had posed for a photo earlier in the year – ejected, and U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler made a brief appearance. ^[89]

Greene was expected to face Democratic IT specialist Kevin Van Ausdal, but he withdrew from the race on September 11. ^[92] This left Greene unopposed in the general election, ^{[93] [94]} which she won with 74% of the vote. Van Ausdal, whose name remained on the ballot, took 25%. ^[95] During her victory speech, Greene called Pelosi "anti-American", a "hypocrite", and a "bitch" whom "we're going to kick ... out of Congress", ^{[96] [97]} and had a reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ousted from the venue after he tweeted quotes from her speech. ^{[98] [99]} She later mocked Van Ausdal's appearance and got into an argument with former Republican senator Jeff Flake on Twitter. ^[98]

In the days after the election, Greene made deceptive claims that her husband Perry's Floyd County voting record revealed voter fraud, writing on social media that when her husband went to vote early, he was told he had received an absentee ballot despite not requesting one. Floyd County chief elections clerk Robert Brady told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that nothing happened to the missing ballot, and that it was canceled according to procedure, adding that "he [Perry Greene] signed an affidavit on [October] 23rd and he was allowed to vote. ... He only voted one time." ^[100]

Endorsements

Prominent Republicans who supported Greene in her candidacy included Donald Trump; U.S. representatives Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs, and Matt Gaetz; Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk; and Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows. ^{[102] [103] [104] [90] [105]} Meadows's wife, Debbie Meadows, is the executive director of RightWomen Pac, which endorsed Greene and contributed $17,500 to her runoff campaign. Other donors included Barb Van Andel-Gaby – the chair of the board of The Heritage Foundation – and attorney L. Lin Wood, who later promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. presidential election. ^[106] Greene also received support from the House Freedom Fund, a political action committee and the campaign fundraising arm of the House Freedom Caucus. ^{[103] [107]} The Georgia Republican Party contributed $5,220 to her campaign treasury on March 2, 2020. ^[108]

2022

In September 2021, the Federal Election Commission asked Greene's 2022 re-election campaign treasurer, her then-husband, to provide information about $3.5 million of unitemized campaign contributions from undisclosed donors received in the first half of 2021. ^[109] By federal law, only individual contributions under $200 are allowed to be unitemized or have donor identity withheld. ^[109] Greene received more donations than any other House Republican in the first three months of 2021. ^[109]

In April, Greene faced a legal challenge to her eligibility based on her alleged involvement in organizing and promoting the 2021 United States Capitol attack, based on the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which bars people who have engaged in insurrection from serving in Congress. ^[110]

In May, Greene defeated Jennifer Strahan in the Republican primary. ^[111]

Greene was reelected in November 2022, defeating Democratic nominee Marcus Flowers; Green received 65.9 percent of the vote. ^[112]

Tenure

On her first day in office, Greene wore a face mask onto the House floor that read "Trump Won", despite Trump having lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election to Joe Biden. ^[113] During the counting of electoral votes, Greene raised an objection to counting Michigan's electoral votes. The objection was not signed by a member of the U.S. Senate and therefore was rejected. ^[114]

In response to the January 6 United States Capitol attack by Trump supporters, Greene called for an end to violence and for support for Trump. ^{[115] [116]} She refused to wear a face mask while sheltering in place during the riot, and during the debate to impeach Trump she tweeted: "Democrats must be held accountable for the political violence inspired by their rhetoric." This prompted Democratic representative Jason Crow to call her "morally bankrupt", "depraved" and "frankly dangerous". ^[116]

In a series of tweets following the attack on the Capitol, Greene falsely suggested that the rioters were members of antifa dressed as Trump supporters. ^[117] Greene made these claims even though Anthony Aguero, a conservative activist and close associate of hers, was one of the people who stormed the Capitol. ^{[118] [119]} She also retweeted a clip from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, in which Carlson – citing Revolver News, a right-wing news website – claimed that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation might have organized and participated in the attack. ^[120] Later that month, Greene asked Trump to issue her a pardon for her efforts to overturn the 2020 election. ^[121]

Greene has supported efforts to impeach Joe Biden. On January 21, 2021, the second day of Biden's presidency, Greene filed articles of impeachment against him, citing alleged abuse of power as the reason for impeachment. ^{[122] [123]} In an interview with Greg Kelly of Newsmax, she perpetuated the Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory alleging that Biden had been bought off by foreign interests. ^[124] By September 2022, Greene had introduced five different resolutions to impeach Biden. ^[125]

On January 27, 2021, Representative Jimmy Gomez announced he had drafted a resolution to expel Greene from the House after reports that she had previously called for violence against Democrats. ^[126] Representative Jake Auchincloss also called for Greene's resignation or expulsion due to her threats of violence against fellow lawmakers. ^[127] On January 28, with the revelations of Greene's threats against Democratic members of the House, Pelosi spoke of an "enemy within the House of Representatives" and the need to increase security measures, stating that this referred to "members who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress" – alluding to Greene and other Republican representatives, such as Lauren Boebert, who wanted to bring guns onto the House floor. ^[128] Pelosi also criticized the House Republican leadership for placing Greene on the Education Committee after Greene had questioned the authenticity of deadly school shootings around the country. ^[129]

On January 29, 2021, Representatives Nikema Williams and Sara Jacobs introduced a resolution to censure Greene for making threatening comments to her colleagues and to call for her resignation. ^[130] On March 19, Gomez formally introduced his resolution to expel Greene, with the support of 72 Democrats and no Republicans. It is considered unlikely to gain the required two-thirds majority needed to pass. ^[131]

The Washington Post reported in May 2021 that two of its reporters observed Greene aggressively confront Ocasio-Cortez outside the House chamber, loudly asking why she supported antifa and Black Lives Matter, which Greene falsely characterized as terrorists. Ocasio-Cortez did not respond and called on House leadership to ensure that Congress remains "a safe, civil place for all Members and staff". ^[132]

Later in May, Greene voted against the January 6 commission, a proposed commission which would have investigated the attack on the Capitol. ^[133] During a speech she made against establishing a commission, Greene called for justice for Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer when she stormed the Capitol and attempted to break into the House chamber. ^[134]

Also in May, Greene and Gaetz initiated a nationwide " America First Tour", beginning in The Villages, Florida. ^[135] Throughout the tour, the two repeated unsubstantiated claims of fraud purported to have occurred during the 2020 election. ^[136] Later in July, a scheduled rally in Laguna Hills, California, was canceled after the venue withdrew. ^[137]

In June 2021, Greene was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6. ^[138] When Pelosi announced the creation of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Greene declared her interest in being seated on it. ^[139]

In August 2021, after the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack requested that over 30 telecommunications companies retain phone records related to the attack, including those of Greene and several other members of Congress, she promised that companies that complied would be "shut down". ^[140]

In February 2022, Greene spoke at a conference hosted by white supremacist Nick Fuentes, where Fuentes called the January 6 attack "awesome" and praised Putin and Hitler. When criticized for her attendance, Greene denounced these criticisms as "identity politics" and an attempt to "cancel" her, and labelled critics " Pharisees". ^{[141] [142] [143]}

On June 22, 2023, Greene and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik introduced a pair of resolutions to expunge both of Trump's impeachments. ^[144] The next day, Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy lent his support to the resolutions. ^[145]

In June 2023, Greene was expelled from the Freedom Caucus by a vote of its members. The vote came after Greene called fellow caucus member Lauren Boebert a "little bitch" during an argument on the House floor. It was the first time the group ever voted to expel one of its members. While the remark towards Boebert was given as the primary reason for Greene's expulsion, Greene had also gone against some caucus positions and had allied herself with Speaker McCarthy, who was opposed by many in the caucus during the speaker election. ^[146]

Greene told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2024 that if Trump won the upcoming election, she would be "certainly particularly interested" in serving as the Secretary of Homeland Security. ^[147]

Committee assignments

Greene was briefly a member of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Education and Labor. She was removed from all committee assignments on February 4, 2021 due to incendiary remarks she had made before her election. ^{[148] [149] [150]} She was appointed to new committee roles in January 2023.

For the 118th Congress: ^[151]

• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement
  • Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations
• Committee on Oversight and Accountability
  • Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation
  • Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce
• Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic

Caucus memberships

• Election Integrity Caucus ^{[152] [153]}
• Republican Study Committee ^[154]
• Second Amendment Caucus ^[152]

Greene had also been a member of the House Freedom Caucus, but was voted out in mid-2023 after insulting Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, another member of the caucus. ^[155] Greene had allegedly called Boebert a "little bitch", and accused Boebert of copying articles of impeachment served against Biden. ^[156]

Political positions

After she won the 2020 Republican primary runoff election, Greene wrote on Twitter: "The GOP establishment, the media, & the radical left, spent months & millions of dollars attacking me." ^[157] She has expressed support for Donald Trump and declared her intention to push Republicans further to the right. ^[158]

Abortion

Greene opposes abortion, ^[70] calling it "the worst scar a woman can carry for the rest of her life". ^[159] In videos apparently recorded between 2017 and 2019, Greene said that abortion and Planned Parenthood are two factors holding back minorities in the country, ^[160] and in an August 2020 interview with Fox News, she indicated her support for defunding Planned Parenthood. ^[161] On April 15, 2021, Greene and Boebert cast two lone votes against a bill to reauthorize the National Marrow Donor Program. Explaining her vote, Greene falsely claimed: "Nothing in this bill prevents the funding of aborted fetal tissue by taxpayers." ^{[162] [163]} In 2021, Greene falsely claimed that the Plan B contraceptive "kills a baby in the womb"; Plan B actually prevents ovulation and thus prevents pregnancy, instead of terminating a pregnancy. ^{[164] [165]}

COVID-19

In September 2020, Greene wrote on Twitter that "children should not wear masks", calling recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health officials "unhealthy for their psychological, emotional, and educational growth" and "emasculating" for boys. ^[166] She called restrictions imposed in the U.S. Capitol in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including face mask requirements, "tyrannical control" by Democrats. ^[167] She opposed any form of mandatory mask-wearing, compulsory vaccination, or lockdowns in response to the pandemic. ^[168] After Greene called masks "oppressive", National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony Fauci responded that her stance was "very disturbing" given the data on the seriousness of the outbreak. ^[169] Greene and other Republicans refused to wear masks in a secured room with other members of Congress during the storming of the Capitol in January 2021; ^[170] afterward, it was reported that several representatives tested positive for the virus, including Bonnie Watson Coleman, Pramila Jayapal and Brad Schneider. ^[171]

Greene refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine, claiming there was no reason to because she is "perfectly healthy". ^[172] By March 2021, the private sector had begun efforts to create vaccine passports to better enable those who had been inoculated to resume public gatherings, and some states and the federal government were considering such plans, though the Biden administration said participation would not be compulsory. On Facebook and Twitter, Greene suggested the plan might be "Biden's mark of the beast", a reference to the Book of Revelation, echoing a far-right conspiracy theory that getting vaccinated is equivalent to pledging allegiance to the devil. She added: "It's still fascism, or communism, whatever you want to call it, but it's coming from private companies. So, I have a term for that. I call it 'corporate communism.'" ^[173] Days later, Greene introduced a bill in the House, the We Will Not Comply Act, which sought to ban vaccine passports, as well as the Fire Fauci Act, which would eliminate Fauci's salary until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, although Senate confirmation is not required for Fauci's position as NIAID director. ^{[174] [175]} According to August 2021 financial disclosures, in 2020 Greene owned stocks in three COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, with at least $15,000 of stock in both Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, and at least $1,000 of stock in AstraZeneca. ^[176]

Greene has been fined many times for not wearing a mask on the House floor. The first occasion was on May 18, 2021, when she was fined $500. ^{[177] [178]} Two days later, on a podcast hosted by evangelical commentator David Brody, ^[179] Greene called Pelosi "mentally ill" and said that Pelosi's requirement that House members continue wearing masks until they all prove they have been vaccinated "is exactly the [same] type of abuse" as Jews being "put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany" during the Holocaust. ^{[180] [181] [182]} Greene said she incurred a second fine of $2,500 after she again entered the House floor without a mask, and she dubbed Pelosi "Speaker Maskhole" in response. ^{[183] [184]} The day after the podcast, she defended her comments, adding, "any rational Jewish person doesn't like what's happening with overbearing mask mandates and overbearing vaccine policies." Her comments drew widespread criticism, including from leading Republican representatives and the Jewish community. ^{[181] [185] [186] [187]} On June 14, Greene publicly apologized for her comments after a private visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. ^[188] Three weeks later, she compared Biden's suggestion to provide door-to-door vaccinations to "medical brownshirts" and said: "You can't force people to be part of the human experiment." ^{[189] [190]} By the end of October 2021, she had been fined 20 times for not wearing a mask on the House floor. According to House rules, subsequent fines were $2,500 each. Thus, with the 20th occasion, she had been fined a total of $48,000. ^[191]

On June 4, 2021, Greene sent Biden a letter calling for an investigation into Fauci over his statements on the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. ^{[192] [193]} In the letter, she called COVID-19 a "manufactured plague" caused by a "Chinese-made virus". ^{[194] [195]} Days later, she suggested that only a bioweapon could explain the existence and spread of the virus. ^[196] Greene also said that she did not support the use of gain-of-function research to identify emerging diseases and develop vaccines and treatments. ^[197]

In July 2021, Greene dismissed the COVID-19 variants, including the Delta variant, saying, "no one cares". ^[198] She also posted misinformation about the virus, saying it "is not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65". When a reporter informed Greene that non-obese and young people were also dying from the virus and asked her whether she bore "responsibility for keeping people in Georgia safe", Greene laughed and said, "I think people's responsibility is their own." ^[199]

At an August 2021 fundraiser in Alabama, Greene claimed that Biden would be "sending one of his police state friends to your front door" to inquire whether they had received a vaccine, and said, "in the South, we all love our Second Amendment rights, and we're not really big on strangers showing up on our front door." At the same event, Greene claimed that the virus was Fauci's "experiment". When NBC News contacted Greene's office to confirm that a video of the event was genuine, a spokesman for her responded, "These claims are ridiculous and yet another conspiracy theory from the left." ^{[200] [201]} On August 12, Greene admitted that COVID-19 is spreading, but falsely said that hospitals were not overwhelmed with afflicted patients, and added, "we're human, we can't live forever, we're going to catch all kinds of diseases and illnesses and other viruses." ^[202]

In November 2022, Greene promoted the anti-vaccine film Died Suddenly, which promotes misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and Great Reset conspiracy theories. ^[203]

2020 presidential election

Greene is a supporter of former president Donald Trump; on January 4, 2021, she called for the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia to be decertified. ^[204] After Trump's second impeachment, she introduced an article of impeachment against Biden on January 21, the day after he took office; no one co-sponsored it. ^{[205] [122] [206]}

During an interview with Steve Bannon on July 7, 2021, Greene rejected a conspiracy theory that suggested Trump would be reinstated as president in August 2021. ^[207]

On October 22, 2021, Greene purchased shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company that had just merged with Trump Media & Technology Group for the purpose of funding Trump's planned social media app, Truth Social. ^[208]

Foreign policy

During a speech at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference, Greene adamantly opposed foreign aid, saying: "I wanted to take my regular, normal person, normal, everyday American values, which is: We love our country. We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America, not for... China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam – whatever, wherever." ^{[209] [210]} This remark about Guam, which is a U.S. territory whose residents are U.S. citizens, prompted Guam delegate Michael San Nicolas to offer Greene Chamorro chip cookies in what he called "cookie diplomacy". ^{[211] [212]} Guam governor Lou Leon Guerrero told the Guam Daily Post that her office would be "more than happy to send Representative Greene's office a copy of Destiny's Landfall: A History of Guam". ^[213]

In March 2021, Greene was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d'état, for reasons reported to be unclear. ^[214]

In June 2021, Greene was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. ^{[215] [216]}

In July 2021, Greene stated on Bannon's show that, if she had the authority to, she would kick out every Chinese person in the United States who is loyal to the Chinese Communist Party and impose strict tariffs on China. ^{[217] [218]} Also in July, Greene voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan by 8,000, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed in the House by a vote of 407–16. ^[219]

Throughout the Russo-Ukrainian War, Greene has promoted Russian propaganda and praised Vladimir Putin. ^[220] During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, she criticized the "corrupt" Ukrainian government and argued against sending Ukraine weapons. ^[221] She has suggested that Ukraine instigated the invasion by agitating Russia. ^[222]

Greene has been critical of NATO. ^[223] She was one of 18 Republicans to vote against admitting Sweden and Finland to NATO. ^[224]

In 2023, Greene was among 47 Republicans to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days. ^{[225] [226]}

Gun rights

At a September 2020 gun rights rally in Ringgold, Georgia, Greene said she would always protect gun owners' rights and would not vote for any laws making it harder for people to possess guns. ^{[227] [228]} She said: "The government will never tell me how many guns I can own, and how many bullets I am allowed to fire if someone were to attack me or my kids". ^[229]

In June 2021, Greene introduced a bill to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. ^[230] The bill also sought to provide monetary grants to the families of Border Patrol agents killed as a result of Operation Fast and Furious. ^[231]

In June 2022, Greene argued that Canada's proposed gun control laws would leave Canada "weak and vulnerable to being invaded and easily taken over by another stronger country", such as "Russia, who is very angry at America right now." ^[232]

In July 2022, Greene claimed that the July 4 Highland Park parade shooting was "designed to make Republicans go along with more gun control" because the shooting occurred "in a rich, white neighborhood". She also claimed that "We didn't see that at all the Pride parades in the month of June" and that "As soon as we hit MAGA month ... we have shootings on July Fourth". Although Greene conceded that her comments might sound "like a conspiracy theory", she said that "the definition of a right-wing conspiracy theory" is "just the news a month early." ^[233]

Infrastructure

In November 2021, Greene said that any Republican who supported the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was "a traitor to our party, a traitor to their voters and a traitor to our donors". ^[234] She called the $1.2 trillion bill Biden's "communist takeover of America". ^{[235] [236]} Greene criticized the 13 House Republicans who voted for the bill as "American job and energy killers" and derided them as "China-First and America-Last". Fred Upton, one of the 13, said that he received over 1,000 calls, including death threats, after Greene publicized their office phone numbers on Twitter. ^{[237] [238]}

LGBT rights

On February 2, 2021, Greene co-sponsored the Old Glory Only Act, a bill to ban U.S. embassies from flying pride flags. ^{[239] [240]} Two days later, she said she was "censored" by Twitter for "absolutely believing with all my heart that God's creation is he created them male and female". ^{[241] [242]}

On February 24, 2021, Greene tried to block the Equality Act while it was being debated on the House floor, ^[243] saying that it would "destroy God's creation" and "violate everything we hold dear in God's creation". ^[244] She proposed replacing it with a bill that would exempt nonprofit organizations, allow people to sue the federal government "if their religious rights are violated", and prevent trans women and girls from participating in women's sports. ^[245] After floor debate on the bill that day, Representative Marie Newman, whose congressional office is directly across from Greene's, displayed a transgender pride flag outside her office. In response, Greene displayed a transphobic poster outside her office reading: "There are TWO genders: Male & Female. Trust The Science!". ^[243] Newman has a transgender daughter, whom Greene called Newman's "biological son". ^[246]

In April 2021, Greene supported a bill by Representative Mary Miller that would bar schools from allowing transgender students to use facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender identity. ^[247]

In June 2021, during an interview with Steve Bannon, Greene called transgender women "men playing dress up" and "literally having an identity crisis", saying, "They never will be [women], and I refuse to recognize them that way." ^[159] Later in June, she said that schools teaching about LGBT people is "mental/emotional child abuse". ^[248]

In April 2022, Greene criticized Ketanji Brown Jackson for not answering Senator Marsha Blackburn's question "what is a woman?" Greene said, "We came from Adam's rib. God created us with his hands. We may be the weaker sex, we are the weaker sex, but we are our partner's, our husband's wife." ^[249]

In May 2022, Greene claimed that straight people would go extinct within less than two centuries due to LGBT-inclusive educators, calling them "trans terrorists". She also falsely claimed that the perpetrator of the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas was transgender. ^[250]

On June 1, 2022, Greene said that "an entire" pride month celebrating LGBT people "needs to end." ^[251]

On August 19, 2022, Greene introduced the "Protect Children's Innocence Act", which would make giving transgender youth gender-affirming care a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison, prohibit using federal funds for gender-affirming care or health insurance covering it, and prohibit institutions of higher education from providing instruction on such care. Fourteen Republicans have co-sponsored the bill. ^[252] In November 2022, after California state senator Scott Wiener, who is gay, called "groomer" "an anti-LGBTQ hate word" that "plays into the slander that LGBTQ people are pedophiles", Greene responded that the Protect Children's Innocence Act would stop "communist groomers" such as Wiener. ^[253]

Race, religion, and immigration

Greene opposes the Black Lives Matter movement and has called it a Marxist group. ^[70] In a video, she compared Black Lives Matter activists to white nationalist participants at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, ^[160] a rally she had previously called an "inside job". ^[254] She ended one of her videos commenting: "The most mistreated group of people in the United States today are white males." ^[160] After the murder of George Floyd, Greene posted on Facebook that his death "must be investigated and justice will be served", calling the video "heartbreaking". ^[255] One year later, when Derek Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd's murder, Greene claimed the verdict was a result of jury intimidation by Black Lives Matter – which she compared to the Ku Klux Klan and called "the most powerful domestic terrorist organization" in the United States – and falsely asserted that Washington, D.C. was "completely dead" on the night of the verdict because people were "scared to go out" for "fear of riots". ^{[256] [257] [258]} Greene denounced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a civil rights and police reform bill, ^[259] as an "Anti-Police bill", erroneously claiming it would bar law enforcement from using facial recognition. ^[260]

In a recording obtained by Politico, Greene said that Muslims who believe in Sharia law should not be in the U.S. government. She also contended that the Democratic Party is holding Black Americans as "slaves". Her comments on black people, Muslims, and Jews were denounced by Republican House leaders and a spokesman for National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Emmer. ^[160] Greene said that the election of Omar and Tlaib in the 2018 midterm elections was part of "an Islamic invasion of our government", ^[157] and in 2021, she called the Squad supporters of "terrorism" and " Hamas" who "don't belong in Congress" and referred to them as the " Jihad Squad". ^{[261] [262]} In a late January 2021 interview with far-right British political commentator Katie Hopkins, Greene said that she would "love to trade [Hopkins] for some of our white people here that have no appreciation for our country". ^{[263] [264]}

On April 16, 2021, it was reported that Greene and other House Republicans, such as Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, and Paul Gosar, were interested in launching an America First Caucus, and Gohmert confirmed Greene's involvement to reporters. ^[265] According to a leaked seven-page document on the aims of the caucus, they believe that "America is a nation with a border, and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions." ^[266] The document also stated the caucus would "work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture." ^[267] House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy indirectly criticized the caucus as pushing " nativist dog whistles". ^{[268] [269]} Greene's office said on April 16 that the new caucus would be launched "very soon", ^[270] but the next day her spokesman said it was still in an early planning stage and that Greene was not "launching anything". ^{[270] [271]} Greene disavowed the caucus and stated she was not involved, calling it a "staff level draft proposal from an outside group that [she] hadn't read". ^{[272] [273]}

In February 2022, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Greene for attending the America First Political Action Conference, saying there was no place in the party for "white supremacists or anti-Semitism". ^[274]

Greene has defended Christian nationalism and described herself as a "proud Christian nationalist." ^{[275] [276] [277]}

Climate change

Greene rejects the scientific consensus that climate change is caused primarily by human activity, saying in 2021 that "maybe perhaps we live on a ball that rotates around the sun, that flies through the universe, and maybe our climate just changes." ^{[279] [280]} In an August 2022 interview, Greene said, "People die in the cold. This Earth warming, and carbon, is actually healthy for us. It helps us to feed people, it keeps people alive. ... We need to hold Democrats accountable and defund all of their climate garbage" ^[281]—contrary to the scientific consensus that the costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time. ^[282] Greene's April 15, 2023 tweet said climate change was a "scam" and that "fossil fuels are natural and amazing", saying that "there are some very powerful people that are getting rich beyond their wildest dreams convincing many that carbon is the enemy". ^[278] Her tweet included a chart that omitted carbon dioxide and methane, ^[278] the two most dominant greenhouse gas emissions. ^[283]

Evolution

Greene has said that she does not accept the scientific fact of evolution, calling it a "type of so-called science" and saying: "I don't believe in evolution. I believe in God." ^{[284] [285]}

Secession

In late 2021, Greene advocated a "national divorce" between red states and blue states. She further suggested that red states disenfranchise people who move there from blue states for a period of five years. ^{[286] [287]} She repeated these suggestions in February 2023, to the condemnation of Democrats and some Republicans, including Spencer Cox, Liz Cheney, and Mitt Romney. ^{[288] [289] [290]} The next day, Greene elaborated that she wants "a legal agreement" that would separate states more than they are now "while maintaining our legal union". ^[291]

Political violence and extremism

In an interview with gun activist Chris Dorr on October 27, 2020, a week before election day, Greene told viewers: "the only way you get your freedoms back is it's earned with the price of blood." ^[292] On January 29, 2021, The New York Times detailed Greene's support for and past ties with extremist militia groups, including the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers; both groups had members participate in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. ^[228]

Rhetoric involving killing of opponents

In a January 2019 Facebook video, Greene said Pelosi is guilty of treason and that treason is a crime punishable by death. Greene made the video to promote a petition she started on We the People to impeach Pelosi for treason — a remedy that does not exist in the U.S. Constitution ^[293] — due to her opposition to Trump's proposed border wall, as well as alleged support for sanctuary city policies. More than 140,000 people signed the petition. ^{[294] [295] [296]} In February 2019 videos live-streamed on Facebook, Greene visited Pelosi's office and suggested that Pelosi would either be killed or imprisoned for treason. She then suggested that Representative Maxine Waters had also committed treason. ^[295]

In 2018 and 2019, Greene's Facebook account expressed support for the execution of leading Democrats, including Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, as well as support for the execution of FBI agents. ^{[295] [297]} For example, in response to an April 2018 post asking, "Now do we get to hang them?? Meaning H & O???", Greene's account responded: "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off." ^[295] Greene did not deny the authenticity of the reported content, but stated that the CNN article was "focused on my time before running for political office", that "teams of people manage my pages", and that CNN had reported on content that "did not represent my views". ^{[295] [297]}

Advocacy based on conspiracy theories

After the first round of voting in the 2020 Republican primary election, but before the Republican primary runoff election, Politico rereleased videos Greene published in which she expressed racist, antisemitic, and Islamophobic views. Her support for bigotry and the QAnon conspiracy theory in the videos were condemned, including by conservatives, such as McCarthy and Republican whip Steve Scalise, ^{[160] [298]} but they took no action against her, with McCarthy remaining neutral in the runoff. ^[299] Some of Greene's social media postings and publications remained online through her 2020 campaign. ^[300] After they drew attention in January 2021, she deleted them. ^[301]

Greene has promoted multiple conspiracy theories, including the claim that Hillary Clinton is responsible for a series of murders, that Democratic Party elites are responsible for a satanic child sex trafficking ring, that the government orchestrated the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, that the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, was a false flag attack intended to help introduce gun control, that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was staged, that Barack Obama secretly visited North Korea and sabotaged nuclear diplomacy to cover up untoward dealings with Iran, that Obama and his advisor Valerie Jarrett were secretly Muslim, and that the September 11 attack on the Pentagon was fake. Greene also promoted a false anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that the 2018 Camp Fire, a deadly wildfire in California, may have been caused by "what looked like lasers or beams of blue light" from "space solar generators" in a scheme involving California Governor Jerry Brown, companies PG&E, Rothschild & Co, and Solaren. ^{[44] [302] [303] [304]}

In May 2022, Greene promoted the conspiracy theory that the U.S. government is planning to force Americans to eat fake meat grown in a "peach tree dish" by Bill Gates. ^[305]

In August 2022, Greene claimed that Democrats had designed the killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri to boost Biden in the midterms because the Russian invasion of Ukraine had not achieved this, shortly before doubting he had been killed. ^[306]

Pizzagate and QAnon

Greene has said there are links between Hillary Clinton and pedophilia and human sacrifice ^[31] and in 2017 speculated that the Pizzagate conspiracy theory is real. ^[254] Reviving the Clinton kill list conspiracy theory, she claimed Clinton murdered her political enemies. ^[43] In a video posted to YouTube in 2018, Greene suggested John F. Kennedy Jr.'s death in a plane crash in 1999 was a "Clinton murder" because he was a possible rival to her for a U.S. Senate election in New York. ^[104]

In January 2021, Media Matters found a 2018 Facebook post that showed Greene agreeing with a conspiracy theory known as Frazzledrip, ^[307] which asserts that there is a video of Hillary Clinton and her assistant Huma Abedin murdering a child in a satanic ritual and that Clinton later ordered a hit on a police officer to cover it up. ^{[297] [308] [309]} Greene dismissed Media Matters' findings as the work of " Communists [ sic] bloggers". ^[310]

Greene supported the debunked far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, which she discovered through columnist Liz Crokin. ^[311] In a 2017 video, she said that "many of the things" said on 4chan by the eponymous Q — whom she called a "patriot" — "have really proven to be true". ^{[312] [298]} She said, "There's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it." ^[313]

According to her author biography page, Greene wrote 59 articles for the now-defunct conspiracy theory website American Truth Seekers, including one linking the Democratic Party to "Child Sex, Satanism, and the Occult". ^{[43] [254]} When she ran for the House of Representatives in 2020, she distanced herself from that conspiracy theory and said she had not referred to Q or QAnon during her campaign. She said she no longer had a connection with QAnon and mentioned having found "misinformation". ^[314]

False flag claims

In a 2017 video posted to Facebook, Greene expressed doubt that the perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, a large-scale incident she believes was intended as an attack on the right to bear arms, acted alone. ^{[315] [43]} She claimed that the August 2017 Charlottesville white nationalist rally, in which a counter-protester was killed in a car attack, was an "inside job". ^[316] She said the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand were a false flag for the same end. ^[34]

In a 2018 interview, Greene expressed support for a conspiracy theory that a plane did not hit the Pentagon during the September 11 attacks; she referred to "the so-called plane that crashed into the Pentagon" and said that "it's odd there's never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon," despite an abundance of evidence. ^[317] On another occasion, at a conservative conference in 2018, Greene said 9/11 was part of a U.S. government plot. ^[43] Following an August 2020 Media Matters report on her comments, Greene wrote on Twitter: "Some people claimed a missile hit the Pentagon. I now know that is not correct." ^{[43] [317]} She has also claimed that Democratic National Committee staff member Seth Rich was murdered by the MS-13 gang on Obama's behalf. ^[318] According to Greene, Obama is secretly a Muslim; in actuality, he is a Christian. ^{[104] [319]}

In a February 2019 interview, Greene suggested that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been replaced in public appearances by a body double. ^[320] A QAnon-related conspiracy theory claimed that Ginsburg had died years earlier and that Democrats used a body double to conceal her death so they could hold onto her Supreme Court seat during Trump's presidency. ^[320] Ginsburg actually died on September 18, 2020, during Trump's presidency, and Trump appointed Amy Coney Barrett as her successor. ^{[320] [321]}

Shootings

In a 2018 Facebook post found by Media Matters in January 2021, Greene claimed that the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, was an organized false flag operation. In another post, she claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was also a false flag operation. In another Facebook post later in 2018 she wrote: "I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that 'we need another school shooting' in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control." ^{[322] [323]} Parkland shooting survivors such as David Hogg and Cameron Kasky, as well as Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting, condemned Greene's remarks and demanded that she resign from Congress. ^{[324] [325]} Greene called Hogg, who advocates gun control, "#littleHitler" ^[295] and, in a 2019 interview with a gun-rights group, denounced him as an "idiot" who is trained "like a dog". ^[326] A March 2019 video shows Greene following and taunting Hogg, accusing him of using children for his cause. ^[327] After the encounter, she called him a "coward" and falsely claimed he is funded by George Soros. ^{[328] [329]} The website Snopes found the video uploaded by Guttenberg and others was the second incident in which Greene targeted Hogg. Both occurred on March 25, 2019, and Greene live-streamed the first to her Facebook account. The second video was uploaded to Greene's YouTube account in January 2020. ^[327]

In January 2021, a Greene staffer threatened to have WRCB-TV reporter Meredith Aldis arrested after Aldis tried to ask Greene a question at a town hall event about her harassment of Hogg. ^[330]

Soon after these comments came to light, Representative Jahana Hayes, whose district includes Sandy Hook, circulated a letter to the House Republican leadership urging them not to seat Greene on the Education Committee. ^[331] Hogg called for Greene to be expelled from Congress, saying that McCarthy tacitly supported Greene by not taking actions to sanction her. ^[326]

In the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting in May 2022, Greene claimed that the shooter had engaged in cross-dressing, echoing similar claims by right-wing politicians and media figures that the shooter was transgender. ^[332] Greene went on to claim without evidence that the shooter was in the same Discord server as the teen accused of carrying out the 2022 Buffalo shooting and that there was a third party who "groomed" both young men, adding that there were suggestions that this groomer was a former FBI agent. ^[333]

Georgia Guidestones bombing

Greene has criticized the presence of the Georgia Guidestones, a 19-foot high megalithic granite monument installed in Elberton in 1982, an attraction that drew 20,000 annual visitors. In an interview with InfoWars conspiracist Alex Jones on July 7, 2022, the day they were dynamited by unknown saboteurs, she said ecumenical texts inscribed on it represented a nefarious future of "population control" as envisioned by the "hard left". She added, "There is a war of good and evil going on, and people are done with globalism". ^[334]

Antisemitism

White genocide conspiracy theory

In 2018, Greene shared a video, With Open Gates: The Forced Collective Suicide of European Nations repeating the antisemitic white genocide conspiracy theory that Zionists are conspiring to flood Europe with migrants to replace the native white populations. The video, uncovered by Media Matters, said that those supporting refugees are using "immigrant pawns" to commit "the biggest genocide in human history". In sharing the video, Greene wrote that: "This is what the UN wants all over the world". ^[335] The white genocide conspiracy theory has been associated with white supremacy and espouses the unsubstantiated belief that white people, in a " Great Replacement", will eventually become a minority in Europe and North America due to declining white birth rates and high rates of immigration. Greene has also falsely called George Soros — a Jewish businessman and Holocaust survivor — a Nazi. ^[336] She promoted the conspiracy theory that Soros' family collaborated with the Nazis in Hungary and is "trying to continue what was not finished". ^[160]

Camp Fire conspiracy theory

In 2018, Greene's Facebook account shared a conspiracy theory about the Camp Fire, a deadly Californian wildfire, suggesting that it could have been caused by "what looked like lasers or beams of blue light" from "space solar generators" in a scheme involving California Governor Jerry Brown, companies PG&E, Rothschild & Co, and Solaren. ^{[304] [337] [338] [339]} For these comments, Greene was condemned by the Republican Jewish Coalition, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and Christians United for Israel, with the latter group stating that Greene had promoted "wild anti-Semitic conspiracy theories". ^{[340] [341]} Meanwhile, Representative Jimmy Gomez and the Jewish Democratic Council of America called for Greene to be expelled from Congress. ^[341]

Solaren, a solar energy company, noted several fundamental problems with the conspiracy theory, including that its space-based solar power system did not beam power using the visible light part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and so could not be observed as the "blue beams of light" referenced by the theory; that the system does not use lasers, and so could not have "laser beams"; that Solaren's power contract with PG&E ended in 2015; and that by 2021, Solaren had not launched any solar power satellites into space at all, let alone had one in space in 2018. ^[342]

Anti-Catholicism

On April 28, 2022, in an interview with the Catholic advocacy group Church Militant, Greene attacked the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, accusing them of "destroying" America with their work regarding immigrants and refugees and claiming that Satan was "controlling the church". Her statement was widely condemned by both Democrats and Republicans. Catholic League President Bill Donohue called Greene a "disgrace" and demanded that Congress sanction her. He added, "Greene has a history of offending African Americans and Jews, so bigotry is something that is apparently baked into her". Her attack was compared with other instances of anti-Catholicism in the United States. ^[343]

Greene was baptized, raised, and married as a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but stopped attending Catholic mass services in reaction to Catholic Church sexual abuse cases. ^[344] Greene was rebaptized in 2011 into North Point Community Church, an evangelical megachurch network based in Alpharetta, in a baptism published in an online video. ^{[345] [346] [347]}

In response to Donohue's statement, Greene released a statement detailing her decision to leave the Church upon her realization that she "could not trust the Church leadership to protect my children from pedophiles and that they harbored monsters even in their own ranks." She claimed that her criticisms were limited to Church leadership and did not apply to lay Catholics. ^[348]

Responses

Within Congress

Democrats have condemned Greene's incendiary statements and promotion of conspiracy theories. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz introduced a motion to remove Greene from her committee assignments, ^{[127] [349]} saying that Greene's behavior is "appalling" and "has helped fuel domestic terrorism, endangered lives of her colleagues and brought shame on the entire House of Representatives". ^[350] On February 1, 2021, House majority leader Steny Hoyer gave McCarthy and other Republican House leaders an ultimatum: unless they stripped Greene of her committee seats within 72 hours, the Democrats would bring Wasserman Schultz's motion before the full House. ^{[351] [349]} In turn, McCarthy called some of Greene's comments "deeply disturbing". ^[352]

With Republican officials under mounting pressure to denounce Greene, ^[130] Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement to The Hill in which he attacked "loony lies and conspiracy theories" as a "cancer for the Republican Party". ^[353] The statement did not name Greene, but reporting ^{[350] [354] [355] [356]} described the statement as "unmistakably about" ^[357] and "clearly targeted" at Greene. ^[358] McConnell confirmed it the following day, referring to his comments on Greene and adding: "I think I adequately spoke out about how I feel". ^[359] His statement said: "Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality." ^[353] In response, Greene tweeted that the Republican Party's only problem are "weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully". ^{[354] [355]} After McConnell's statement, several other Republican senators voiced criticisms of Greene. ^[360] Mitt Romney said that the Republican Party's " big tent is not large enough to both accommodate conservatives and kooks". ^[352] Kevin Cramer said that he would have "a hard time supporting ... [Greene] being on the Education Committee" in the light of "her positions on the school shootings being staged", adding: "Real authority has moral authority." ^[360] Both Florida senators condemned the idea that the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting might have not have been real; Marco Rubio said that anyone arguing it was a false flag is "either deranged or a sadist". ^{[326] [360]} Greene used the criticism for a fundraising push, ^[359] saying, "Democrats are trying to expel me from Congress" and telling her supporters to "StandWithMTG". ^{[361] [362]}

McCarthy met with Greene on February 2 and then held meetings with the House GOP Steering Committee, ^[363] which is responsible for committee assignments for Republican members of the House. No decision was made that day, ^[360] but Greene was a major topic of discussion for the Republican Congressional Caucus meeting on February 3, along with the fate of Representative Liz Cheney after her vote in favor of Trump's second impeachment. ^[359] Greene retained Trump's support, ^[352] which presented McCarthy with the problem of having to manage the expectations of the Republican Party's various factions in dealing with Cheney and Greene. ^[359]

Removal from House Committee assignments

As controversy grew about her previous comments, Greene removed her old social media posts ^[364] and spoke before the House Republican Conference on February 3, 2021, to state that her social media content did not reflect who she is, prompting a standing ovation. ^{[365] [366]} In lieu of total removal from her assignments, McCarthy stated that he had suggested Greene be moved to the Small Business Committee. ^[367] That day, the Democratic-controlled House Rules Committee passed Wasserman Schultz's motion to remove Greene from her committee assignments. ^[367] McCarthy indicated his conference would not act against Greene. ^{[368] [369]} Pelosi chastised McCarthy for acquiescing to Greene, referring to him as "McCarthy (Q-CA)", in reference to the QAnon conspiracy theory. ^{[370] [371]} On February 4, the full House voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments. ^[367] The vote was 230 to 199, with 11 Republicans joining all Democrats. ^[372] After the vote, Greene described herself as "freed", calling the committees part of "basically a tyrannically controlled government". ^{[373] [374]}

Outside Congress

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Republican Jewish Coalition condemned Greene's statements. ^[130]

On February 9, 2021, Shaun Holmes, the father of a 10-year-old boy with Down syndrome, confronted Greene at a Whitfield County Republican Party meeting. Asked about her use of the word " retard" to refer to individuals with the syndrome, Greene said: "I guess it was a slang word. You can actually look it up in the dictionary", adding: "I do apologize for that being offensive to anyone." ^{[375] [376]}

In February 2021, CrossFit attempted to distance itself from Greene, who once owned an affiliated gym and is an avid proponent of CrossFit fitness regimens. ^[377] CrossFit spokesperson Andrew Weinstein told BuzzFeed News: "CrossFit supports respectful fact-based political dialogue to address our common challenges, and we strongly oppose the loathsome and dangerous lies attributed to Ms. Greene." ^[377]

On May 21, 2021, Common Cause filed an FEC complaint against Greene for an alleged violation of McCain–Feingold campaign finance provisions, accusing her of "implicit" unlawful solicitation of unlimited contributions in an advertisement appearance made on behalf of a super PAC that targeted Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. In the ad, she calls on viewers to "fight back now, before it's too late" before a separate voice-over asks them to contribute to the PAC seconds thereafter. ^{[378] [379]}

During her 2020 campaign and the beginning of her first term in Congress, Greene became one of the most recognizable names in the GOP. ^{[380] [381] [382]} On January 29, 2021, Greene stated she had raised $1.6 million amid criticism from Democratic lawmakers. ^[383] In a February 2021 poll by YouGov, shortly after her removal from her committee assignments, 45% of surveyed adult U.S. citizens viewed her unfavorably, 33% did not know, and 21% viewed her favorably. ^[384] In a mid-May 2021 poll by Morning Consult, the majority of GOP voters surveyed had either never heard of or had no opinion on Greene; among those who had an opinion, Greene was seen overall more favorably than unfavorably. ^[385] As of July 2021 ^[update], opinions on Greene among her constituents in the 14th district are split. ^[386]

In his 2021 memoir, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a Republican, denounced Greene for her "baseless, factless, absurd, and dangerous" rhetoric, including her support of QAnon. ^[387]

Student loan forgiveness

In 2022, the White House criticized Greene for attacking its student loan forgiveness program, calling her hypocritical since she accepted forgiveness of a $183,504 loan from the Paycheck Protection Program. ^[388]

Twitter

Greene's Twitter accounts have been suspended and locked many times for violating Twitter's policies. Her Twitter account was temporarily suspended five times in 2021, ^{[389] [390] [391]} from manual reviews or automated systems. ^[390] Her personal account was permanently suspended for spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation; her official congressional account remains active. ^{[392] [393] [394]} Her personal account was reinstated in November 2022, weeks after Elon Musk acquired Twitter. ^[395]

Greene's personal Twitter account was locked for 12 hours on January 17, 2021, "for multiple violations of our civic integrity policy". ^[389] Twitter's action was based on a company policy it had used to remove thousands of QAnon-related accounts after the storming of the United States Capitol. ^[396] Before the suspension, Greene's posts included false claims about voting fraud and statements blaming electoral officials in Georgia for their failure to act on such claims. ^{[389] [397] [398] [396]} Upon returning to Twitter, she criticized the company: "Contrary to how highly you think of yourself and your moral platitude, you are not the judge of humanity. God is." ^[399]

As of March 19, 2021, Greene was barred from blocking anyone on her public Twitter or any other social media account while in office and was forced to pay $10,000 to cover legal fees for MeidasTouch, whose co-founder says it will donate the money to two nonprofit organizations. ^[400] This resulted from an out-of-court settlement between Greene and MeidasTouch after MeidasTouch sued Greene for violating the political action committee's First Amendment rights when she blocked it from posting on her Twitter page. ^[400]

In July 2022, Twitter labeled two tweets by Greene, in which she misgendered and deadnamed Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, as violating their rules on hateful conduct, but did not delete them, saying it believed it was in the public's interest for the tweets to remain accessible. ^[401]

2022 primary ballot challenges

In early 2022, Greene said that under a provision of a state law, several Georgia electors had filed papers seeking to remove her from the 2022 Republican primary ballot as unqualified for office. Electors alleged she had been involved in assisting the 2021 United States Capitol attack. On April 1, 2022, Greene filed a federal lawsuit in which she vigorously denied the allegations and sought to have the law blocked as unconstitutional. The law allows a candidate to be removed from a ballot after review by an administrative law judge and the Georgia Secretary of State. ^{[402] [403]} A federal judge denied her challenge on April 18, requiring her to give evidence four days later. ^[404] She testified for three hours on April 22. On May 6, the judge ruled that she was eligible for reelection, but the final decision belongs to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. ^[405]

In popular culture

On January 30, 2021, the first episode of Saturday Night Live's 46th season featured a cold open where a caricature of Greene, played by Cecily Strong, espoused debunked conspiracy theories and discussed how she "told [her] supporters that they should physically murder Nancy Pelosi". ^{[406] [407]} After Greene opposed the Equality Act, her character featured again in February on the Weekend Update sketch, wherein she misspelled "science", compared herself to Pennywise the Dancing Clown, pulled a handgun on co-anchor Colin Jost, and claimed to be possessed by a demon. ^{[408] [409]} In June 2021, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert played a satirical, conspiracy-themed calendar song mocking Greene after she requested Biden reply to a letter she sent "by June 31", a date which does not exist. ^{[410] [411]}

On June 15, 2021, after Greene's visit to the Holocaust Museum, Jimmy Kimmel Live! host Jimmy Kimmel called Greene "human excrement", "Klan Mom", and "the sorriest excuse for a congresswoman we've ever had", comparing her understanding of the Holocaust to that of a sixth-grader and digitally imposing a toothbrush mustache over her apology video. ^{[412] [413]} Daily Show host Trevor Noah called her "your crazy aunt's even crazier friend" who has become "notorious for saying absolutely anything with zero shame". ^{[412] [413]} The View co-host Joy Behar called Greene's apology "as empty as her head" and jokingly remarked, "wait till she hears about slavery!" ^[414]

On February 9, 2022, while discussing the police guarding the Capitol building, Greene called them " gazpacho police", confusing the cold Spanish soup with the Gestapo. The incident met with a wave of jokes about her confusion. ^[415] A similar incident occurred in May 2022, with Greene calling a Petri dish a "peach tree dish" during a livestream. ^[305]

In April 2022, Kimmel said of Greene, "Where is Will Smith when you really need him?" in response to Greene accusing Republicans who supported then-Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson of being "pro- pedophile", referencing the incident in which Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. Greene accused Kimmel of threatening violence against her and tweeted that she contacted the Capitol Police. Greene had previously refused to honor the Capitol Police in June 2021, when she voted against rewarding them with the Congressional Gold Medal for defending the Capitol Building during the 2021 United States Capitol attack. On April 8, Nick Dyer, Greene's spokesman, said that "threats against Congresswoman Greene invoking Jimmy Kimmel have been coming into our office." ^[416]

Personal life

Greene married Perry Greene in 1995 while in college. They have three children. ^{[44] [417]} Perry Greene announced in September 2022 that he was filing for divorce and that their marriage was "irretrievably broken". ^[418] On December 22, 2022, the divorce was finalized. ^[419]

Greene was baptized, raised, and married as a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but stopped attending Catholic Mass in reaction to the child sexual abuse crisis in the church. ^[344] She was rebaptized in 2011 into North Point Community Church, an evangelical megachurch network based in Alpharetta, in a baptism published in an online video. ^{[345] [346] [347]} She speaks often about her faith and has said that she wants to bring "my faith and my family values to Washington". ^[31]

According to ABC affiliate WSB-TV in Atlanta, in May 2021, Greene broke Georgia law by claiming homestead exemptions on two properties. One of the properties is an older home, and the other is a property that she purchased in the Georgia's 14th congressional district when she ran for office. Only one exemption may legally be claimed. Greene responded that the issue was "paperwork, which is being taken care of". ^[420]

In 2023, after her divorce from Perry Greene, Greene began dating Brian Glenn, the director of programming for the Right Side Broadcasting Network. ^[421]

Greene participated in the CrossFit quarterfinals for the 2014, 2015 and 2018 CrossFit Games. In 2015, she placed 47th amongst 40-to-44-year-old women worldwide, but did not progress to the next stage. Her benchmark statistics list a 285lb back squat and a 300lb deadlift. ^[422]

In November 2023, Greene released a "tell-all" book entitled MTG. The book, published by Winning Team Publishing, details Greene's upbringing, her first campaign for Congress, and her three-year tenure as a United States representative. ^[423]

See also

• Conspiracy theories in United States politics
• Radical right (United States)

Explanatory notes

References