Marjorie Taylor Greene gives bizarrely longwinded defence of George Santos campaign lies
The Georgia Republican says Washington should “give George Santos a chance
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Marjorie Taylor Greene is leaping to the defence of George Santos, a Republican congressman-elect from New York who has earned fierce criticisms from the right and left for lying or distorting key aspects of his biography, including his career history, education, and family background.
Mr Santos, who is slated to represent parts of Long Island and Queens, falsely claimed to be a successful landlord who worked at top Wall Street firms after graduating Baruch College and New York University. He also may have lied about being descended from Jewish migrants fleeing WWII.
After former Congress member and guest Fox News host Tulsi Gabbard grilled Mr Santos on Tuesday, Ms Greene tore into her former congressional colleague.
“I too believe actions and words are extremely important, but I don’t think a former Democrat who’s actions on the House floor as recent as 2020 that gave her an A from Planned Parenthood, an F from the NRA, and introduced a climate agenda signature piece of legislation called the OFF Act - designed to end all fossil fuels (the same as AOC’s Green New Deal) should lecture a newly elected Republican member of Congress on how he should vote to represent his Republican district,” she wrote on Tuesday in a lengthy Twitter thread.
“I do appreciate that Tulsi says words that sound conservative now even though she can’t take action to back them up,” Ms Greene added.
The Georgia Republican argued that the GOP should give Mr Santos “a chance” before writing him off.
(Ms Greene has faced her own accusations of lying in important political contexts. In April, in the course of a lawsuit seeking to bar her from Congress for her support of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, she denied having a discussion about implementing marshall law with Trump officials, despite text messages from the time that suggest otherwise.)
During the Fox News interview, Ms Gabbard questioned the New York Republican about how voters could trust him.
“If I were one of those in New York’s 3rd District right now, now that the election is over, and I’m finding out all of these lies that you’ve told, not just one little lie or one little embellishment — these are blatant lies,” Ms Gabbard said while filling in for Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday.
“My question is — do you have no shame?” she continued.
Mr Santos, the first gay man elected to the House as a Republican non-incumbent, defended his record.
“So, look, I understand everybody wants to nitpick at me,” he said. “I’m gonna reassure this once and for all. I’m not a facade. I’m not a persona. I have an extensive career that I worked really hard to achieve.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments