How do you solve a problem like Marjorie?
Even after Twitter banned Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account for a fifth strike violation of spreading false COVID information in January, the Jewish-space-laser- conspiracy theorist still, inexplicably, has control of her official Twitter account. And boy is she putting it to work.
In the wake of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Greene took to social media Monday night to smear the soon-to-be justice and the senators who will be voting to confirm her, including three Republicans.
In a long and unhinged thread, she trafficked in the dishonest GOP talking point that Jackson was “soft” on child pornography offenders in her sentencings.
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This grotesque trope was parroted by Republican senators during the hearing, led by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. The attack was so offensive on its face that even one right-wing National Review writer admitted it was “disingenuous,” calling the allegation “meritless to the point of demagoguery.”
Over at Fox, the primetime personalities were happy to roll with it. As one host asked baselessly, “Why would you sympathize with people who possess child pornography?”
Of course, this is not what Jackson did. As the Washington Post and myriad other fact-checkers have pointed out, this appalling claim is a dishonest distortion that takes her remarks on child pornography sentencing out of context, mischaracterizes the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s work and twists her record.
And, inconveniently for the right-wing smear-mongers, several Trump-appointed judges handed down similar sentences — and were confirmed by Republicans, including Hawley.
But Marj has never met a conspiracy theory she didn’t like, so naturally she’s taking it to cartoonish extremes.
Her five-part Twitter rant read in part: ”Any Senator voting to confirm #KJB is pro-pedophile just like she is.”
“There are MANY more qualified black women judges, that actually can define what a woman is, but Biden chose the one that protects evil child predators.”
“You are either a Senator that supports child rapists, child pornography, and the most vile child predators. Or you are a Senator who protects children and votes NO to KJB!”
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“[Sen. Lisa] Murkowski, [Sen. Susan] Collins, and [Sen. Mitt] Romney are pro-pedophile. They just voted for #KBJ.”
Now, I asked around to see if this constituted actual malice, the bar by which courts determine defamation against a public person, because I can’t think of a worse smear than calling someone “pro-pedophile.”
Experts agree it falls within the realm of opinion, vile as it may be.
But the better question is why hasn’t Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned these horrific attacks on members of his body?
It would seem to be asking too much for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to condemn Greene for smearing Jackson — she is, after all, a Biden nominee. But for Murkowski, Collins and Romney, Greene’s allegations are a direct attack on the Senate itself, littered, as she would believe, with “pro-pedophiles” and people who support child predators.
McConnell, whom Greene has called “Biden’s b*tch,” has taken on Greene before. Last year he released a statement pointed directly at her: “Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country,” it read. “Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality.”
A few months later, he scolded her again for comparing COVID regulations to Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews, calling it “reprehensible.”
Recently, he distanced himself and the party from Greene’s views on Russia, calling her one of “some lonely voices out there that are in a different place.”
Now, these are hardly profiles in courage — Greene is an embarrassing disaster — but McConnell’s condemnations are farther than McCarthy has ever gone.
His spinelessness when it comes to Greene is well-noted.
McCarthy dodged and dithered before actually condemning her attendance at a white nationalist rally — as if that were a gray area — but said afterward that Greene would still get her committee assignments back if Republicans win the House this year.
So, for all her cancerous behavior in the House, McCarthy will essentially give her a promotion.
But will either McCarthy or McConnell summon the courage to state the obvious now, which is that Greene’s attacks on her Senate colleagues are unacceptable? Will McConnell call these “loony lies,” “reprehensible” or something else? Will McCarthy finally do anything about Greene, besides promising to reward her in the future?
We’ll see if Republican leadership would rather their members be labeled pro-pedophiles than have to distance themselves from the lunatic who called them that. Should be an easy decision — but don’t hold your breath.
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.
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