Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was criticized after she claimed White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre "doesn't understand" an ongoing nationwide infant formula shortage because she is a lesbian.
Greene—who actually voted against the Access to Baby Formula Act earlier this year—made the remarks on her MTGLive online broadcast, claiming Jean-Pierre—who has a daughter—can't possibly understand the impact of the shortage because she’s “married to a woman” and “doesn’t have children.”
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Greene took umbrage with Jean-Pierre's pledge earlier this week that the Biden administration will "continue to do the work to make sure families have safe baby formula so they can feed their kids."
During a press briefing she said:
“She claims they’re doing the work every day. Karine claims that they care about families and babies.”
“Karine claims that she understands, but she doesn’t have children and, I think, she’s married to a woman, so obviously she doesn’t really understand that."
"I don’t know if they even have children.”
The nationwide infant formula shortage has received renewed attention in recent months as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) works with Abbott Nutrition—a company that had to recall some of its products in February—to safely resume production.
As of early April, "seven states reported that between 40% and 50% of baby formula products were out of stock," according to a CNN report, and since then the problem has persisted "with no end in sight."
Experts say this is the worst shortage the United States has experienced in decades, amplified by Abbott Nutrition's prolonged shutdown as well as general supply chain issues that have made securing formula ingredients and packaging increasingly difficult.
In May, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office is "closely monitoring reports of a baby formula shortage impacting families across our nation" and said that the state government "won't hesitate to take action against anyone who price gouges baby formula."
Many accused Greene of homophobia, pointing out lesbians and other members of the LGBTQ+ community have children all the time.
Jean-Pierre, who has a child with her partner, CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, has been subject to regular attacks from conservatives who've alleged she is little more than a diversity hire.
Earlier this year, Fox News personality Tucker Carlson attempted to discredit Jean-Pierre, claiming that she, the first Black woman and openly gay person to hold the position of White House Press Secretary, only got the job because of her sexual orientation.
Carlson said that Jean-Pierre's appointment shows that the Biden administration found someone as “shallow, nasty and partisan” as previous Press Secretary Jen Psaki, suggesting that the administration only assigns roles "exclusively in terms of groups" and not based on individual merit.
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