Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood by her remarks calling Democrats “pedophiles” in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday night.
Greene doubled down when pressed on her “over the top” remarks in the past, including calling Democrats a “party of pedophiles.”
“I would definitely say so,” she replied. “They support grooming children.”
Correspondent Lesley Stahl pushed back on Greene’s assertion: “They are not pedophiles, why would you say that?”
Greene again defended her remarks: “Democrats support — even Joe Biden the president himself — supports children being sexualized, having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children.”
Stahl audibly sighed and rolled her eyes, before asking Greene whether she can fight for what she believes in without name-calling and personal attacks.
Greene then accused Democrats of doing the same to her. “I would ask the same question to the other side. Because all they’ve done is call me names and insult me nonstop since I’ve been here,” she said.
“They call me racist. They call me antisemitic, which is not true. I’m not calling anyone names. I’m calling out the truth basically,” she added.
Greene has faced backlash over a series of incendiary remarks. She has repeatedly promoted the QAnon right-wing conspiracy theory that claims then-President Donald Trump was leading a secret war against a “deep state” of Satan-worshiping pedophiles.
Greene’s interview on “60 Minutes” aired after Twitter temporarily restricted her congressional account following her repeated posting of a graphic that referred to a “Trans Day of Vengeance.” The post, which was removed by Twitter, included a graphic that Greene said was for an antifa event in Washington, D.C., in April. “Antifa is organizing a Trans Day of Vengeance,” Greene wrote in accompanying text.
Greene has been an outspoken opponent of transgender rights during her time in office. In her first year in Congress, Greene placed a sign outside of her office mocking a Democratic lawmaker whose daughter is transgender after the Democrat hung a transgender pride flag next to her door. Later that year, Greene co-sponsored legislation to ban U.S. embassies from flying the LGBTQ pride flag. Last year, she endorsed a proposal to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors — which she says she plans to reintroduce.
Greene, an ally of Trump who supported the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, also heckled President Joe Biden during his State of the Union speech in February and drew backlash after she called for the U.S. to have a “national divorce” to separate red and blue states and to “shrink the federal government.”
