Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) struggled on Monday to back away from one of her most widely derided conspiracy theories suggesting that the Rothschilds, a Jewish banking family, were connected to the wildfires in California in 2018.
A reporter in Georgia questioned Greene about the theory after she voted early in the Republican primary. The lawmaker indicated she couldn’t clearly remember her 2018 Facebook post floating the idea, and also said she was largely ignorant about such issues then.
She said she wasn’t aware that attacks on the Rothschilds are often coded anti-Semitism.
During the confrontation, Greene initially adopted the persona she presented when she was questioned in court last month about her role in last year’s Jan. 6 insurrection: Forgetful, confused, patient, smiling. Then she wasn’t so much.
“This is your post under your name,” the reporter said. “You’re talking about the Rothschild family, which has been at the center of anti-Semitic conspiracies since the 19th century.”
“I did not know that,” Greene replied. “I have no idea. I’m telling you.”
Greene insisted she was just a “regular American” when she wrote that post. “Never been in politics. Could not even have told you most people back in politics or families’ names, don’t know their background.”
Nevertheless, she was confident enough to link the Rothschilds to a bonkers plot to set wildfires in California using space lasers to make way for high-speed rail.
“Now that you’ve been told … anti-Semitism is on the rise at an alarming rate,” the reporter told Greene.
“I’m fully against anti-Semitism,” she replied, appearing to be increasingly annoyed. “You’re mixing two things together. You’re accusing me of something I did not do, and then you’re trying to blame me for anti-Semitism. You are such a liar. You need to stop.”
She added: “I’m a Christian. I support Israel.”
Greene, who spoke in February at a white nationalist conference, has often been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks. The House voted last year to strip her of her committee assignments for embracing QAnon and racist conspiracy theories and liking posts about Democrats being executed.
Asked who she planned to vote for governor in Georgia, she snapped: “We have privacy laws. I’m keeping my vote private.” No privacy law prohibits people from revealing who they plan to vote for.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
No comments:
Post a Comment