It is useful, when considering a dubious claim made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), to recall her lengthy history with such comments. This is the candidate who rose to national attention in 2020 for her embrace of QAnon, who has spread I-know-better-than-you claims about 9/11 and the 2012 mass shooting in Sandy Hook, Conn., and, perhaps most infamously, suggested that wildfires were caused intentionally by a space-based laser.
But just because Greene is demonstrably credulous (particularly when it’s useful for impugning her perceived opponents) does not mean that any new claims should be dismissed as unimportant. Her position as a member of Congress and her national profile adds both weight and distance to her commentary. More importantly, her assertions are generally things that she’s picked up from the right-wing information universe, meaning that she is, in fact, speaking for a large population of Americans when she says what she says, however obviously false.
Greene was speaking at a rally in Michigan headlined by former president Donald Trump, itself a reflection of the extent to which her rhetoric has been empowered by her election to the House. She began by articulating now-familiar claims about the way in which the legal system had been deployed against the political right. Then she went further.
“I’m not going to mince words with you all,” Greene said. “Democrats want Republicans dead, and they’ve already started the killings.”
She gave two purported...
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