A smirking Marjorie Taylor Greene laughed off suggestions she plagiarised a line from the movieIndependence Day to rouse supporters prior to the Capitol riots.
Ms Greene was quizzed on the witness stand for three hours Friday at a hearing that could see the Georgia Republican banned from public office because of her support for the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol.
Attorney Andy Celli, representing a group of voters who challenged Ms Greene’s right to run for office, questioned her about a remark encouraging protesters to show up to the Capitol on 6 January, where she said: “We aren’t a people that are going to go quietly into the night.”
“Now, that phrase ... that’s not something that you came up with on your own, is it?” Mr Celli asked.
When Ms Greene replied that she had no idea what he was referring to, the attorney said: “You borrowed that line from the movie Independence Day, right?”
The comment drew laughter from Ms Greene and the public gallery of the Georgiacourtroom.
Ms Greene denied that she had stolen the line, which bears close similarity to a phrase from the Dylan Thomas poem Do not go gentle into that good night.
“I haven’t watched movies in a long time but from what I recall it’s a great movie,” Ms Greene said, with a broad smirk on her face.
Mr Celli briefly explained the plot of the 1996 science fiction film, where aliens attack Earth and destroy the White House.
He then played the relevant clip from Independence Day to the court, but Ms Greene continued to insist there was no link to her statement.
“So you were not communicating in referencing that film that January 6 was going to be a new kind of Independence Day?” the attorney asked.
Mr Greene replied that she was only talking about “objecting and standing up for people’s votes in our election”.
