Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was criticized after she made a questionable comparison between the insurrection of January 6, 2021 and the extensive security measures during President Joe Biden's inauguration two weeks later.
Greene tried to slam Democrats for having no issue with the heavy National Guard presence during the inauguration, contrasting it with the labeling of the events of January 6—the day a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen—as an insurrection.
Greene made the following statement to reporters, ignoring the fact that the National Guard was present at Biden's inauguration precisely because of the attack of two weeks before:
“When they came to Washington and protested all of you called it an insurrection. And then when Joe Biden was inaugurated and this entire Capitol complex was surrounded with 30,000 National Guard troops, none of you stood there and called that an insurrection."
"And no, you all stayed silent."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Greene's attempt to equate the violent mob on January 6 with the heightened security measures during the inauguration received swift criticism from social media users who were quick to fact-check her.
Greene has long denied she was involved in plotting the riot at the Capitol but once said if she planned it, the insurrectionists "would've been armed," a statement that prompted many to accuse her of gunning for more violence during an attack that left at least five people dead and resulted in over 100 injuries to law enforcement as well as millions of dollars in damages. Of course, the fact is many rioters did come armed and had no problem wielding those weapons.
She has made headlines in the past for visiting insurrectionists in jail, once telling Trump's ex-chief strategist Steve Bannon that the prisoners draw pictures of the American flag and sing the national anthem every evening while crying.
Greene has described the conditions in the jail as "deplorable" and claimed that unhoused people and Guantanamo Bay detainees enjoy better living conditions.
