Marjorie Taylor Greene, in a stunning U-turn, has said she never used the phrase “Jewish space lasers” after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s fiery speech on the House floor on Thursday.
Ms Greene said: “There’s people that think that I said a phrase called ‘Jewish space lasers’ – a phrase that I never said.”
“As a matter of fact, it was created and invented in a story that a bunch of people read in the news ... I don’t hold any beliefs like that at all,” she added.
The controversy came into the limelight again after Ms Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, defended fellow Democratic representative Ilhan Omar.
“Don’t tell me that this is about a condemnation of anti-Semitic remarks when you have a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers and also elevated her to some of the highest committee assignments in this body,” she said in a reference to Ms Greene.
“This is about targeting women of colour in the United States of America.”
AOC added that she “didn’t get a single apology” when her “life was threatened” after GOP representative Paul Gosar shared an animated video depicting her being killed with a sword in 2021.
“Republicans are removing [Ilhan Omar] from committees for her anti-Semitic comments,” tweeted columnist Michael J Stern. “But they embrace [Marjorie Taylor Greene] who made insane comments about Jewish space lasers and Donald Trump who invited neo-Nazis to his house for dinner.”
Ms Greene used the phrase in a now-deleted Facebook post from 2018.
The post touted an antisemitic conspiracy theory that suggested the Rothschilds, a wealthy Jewish banking family that often features in such conspiracy theories, were profiting off the California wildfires supposedly caused by “lasers or blue beams of light” from space.
“Never forget the GOP’s antisemitism: They stood by Trump when he accused Jews of disloyalty for voting Dem, then by [Marjorie Taylor Greene], after her ‘Jewish space lasers’ lunacy,” political analyst Omar Baddar tweeted.
Political strategist and commentator Ana Navarro-Cardenas said: “I don’t like or agree w/#IlhanOmar. She’s said – and apologised for – awful things. But it’s a new level of hypocrisy to kick her off committees, & keep a pathological liar who pretended to be Jewish & a kook who belittled the Yellow Star & blamed Jewish space lasers for forest!”
