In Defense of Marjorie Taylor Greene – sort of

If I lived in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, I probably wouldn’t have voted for Greene in the primary. While I appreciate her vocal support for President Trump, she simply came with too much QAnon baggage for my tastes. That having been said, the Republicans of the 14th Congressional District did select Greene and then she won the general election (easily, I might add – winning almost 75% of the vote).

Greene’s views were no secret and neither were her history of making outrageous statements. Indeed, those views were widely broadcast by the mainstream media. Here is how Business Insider covered her win in the Georgia 14th Republican primary run-off:

Greene, a construction executive and a staunch Trump supporter, has come under scrutiny since securing a spot in the runoff not just for her far-right beliefs, but for repeatedly making racist, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic comments in social media live streams and postings, and expressing support for the QAnon conspiracy, which posits that there is a cabal of Satanic, evil “Deep State” elites intent on bringing Trump down. She will now almost certainly be the first person to publicly express belief in the conspiracy to serve in Congress. 

The current push to strip Greene of her committee assignments – and to possibly expel her – isn’t based on anything the Congresswoman has done since taking office. It is based entirely on things she said – things that were well known to the voters who elected her – before her election to Congress.

Congress isn’t to serve as a check on the voters. It doesn’t exist to expel or reprimand members duly elected by the voters of a Congressional district just because that member holds views others -rightfully or wrongfully so – find repugnant.

While establishment Republicans rush to “condemn” Greene, Democrats have done absolutely nothing at all to punish members of their caucus who push baseless conspiracy theories (like Maxine Waters decades long belief, with no evidence, that the CIA was secretly distributing crack cocaine in LA).

Greene’s opinions were well known to the voters of Georgia’s 14th Congressional district, Congress has absolutely no business punishing Greene for anything she said or did before being elected.