Critics of Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene are accusing the right-wing politician of championing a conspiracy theoryabout the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband while some of the congresswoman’s since-deleted videos that show her calling for violence against the US House Speaker are resurfacing.
On Monday, the Georgia lawmaker took to Twitter to defend the social media platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, after the Tesla founder posted – and deleted – a tweet that supported an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory about the Friday attack on Paul Pelosi.
In the since-deleted tweet, Mr Musk shared a link on Sunday to a news article claiming without evidence that Mr Pelosi had met his attacker in a San Francisco gay bar the night of the violent assault. After deleting his tweet on Sunday night, the Twitter owner posted a screenshot of a New York Times headline reporting that he had shared content from a website “known to publish false news”, with a joking rebuttal: “This is fake – I did not tweet out a link to The New York Times!”
Ms Greene took to the same social media platform on Monday morning to defend Mr Musk’s actions, writing in a post: “The same mainstream media democrat activists that sold conspiracy theories for years about President Trump and Russia are now blaming @elonmusk for ‘internet misinformation’ about Paul Pelosi’s friend attacking him with a hammer.”
“The media is source of misinformation,” added the congresswoman, who herself is known to traffic in conspiracy theories about election fraud, QAnon and Covid-19 vaccines.
Ms Greene’s reaction to the assault against Mr Pelosi seemed to be shared by others within the GOP wing, with some continuing to fuel innuendo and false claims about the incident well into Monday evening, even as arresting documents were released which contradicted many of the theories being floated.
The criminal complaint, based on an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor, states that David DePape, 42, attacked Mr Pelosi “with intent to retaliate against” the speaker “on account of the performance of official duties”.
“DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps’,” the complaint said. “DePape was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth.’ In the course of the interview, DePape articulated he viewed Nancy as the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.”
Other concerns raised by some conservative officials was the question of how Mr DePape entered the San Francisco home, which was answered directly in the arresting documents: “DePape stated that he broke into the house through a glass door, which was a difficult task that required the use of a hammer.”
Mr DePape faces federal charges of assault on the immediate family member of a federal official and attempted kidnapping of a federal official, both of which were outlined in a criminal complaint filed by an FBI agent in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday, however, the Georgia congresswoman again showed no signs of retracting her theories about the attack on Mr Pelosi and instead began suggesting other unsubstantied reasons for why the House Speaker’s husband was violently assaulted.
“David Depape was an illegal alien that overstayed his visa & should have been deported,” began Ms Greene, referring to how Mr DePape grew up in Powell River, British Columbia and left for California 20 years ago to pursue a relationship.
She then went on to argue that the attack on Mr Pelosi could have been prevented had he been a gunowner, which she then upped the ante by going on to suggest that Democratic policies were behind the attack.
“If Paul Pelosi was a 2A supporting gun owner he could have shot the man that was trying to kill him. It’s dangerous Democrat policies that led to Paul Pelosi being attacked.
Some online critics who saw Ms Greene’s post on Monday, where she seemed to amplify the same conspiracy theory that was promoted and deleted by Musk earlier, then began to resurface a video where the GOP congresswoman suggests Ms Pelosi be executed for treason.
“She’s a traitor to our country, she’s guilty of treason,” says Ms Greene in the clip, once shared to her Facebook page but has since been removed. “She gives aid and comfort to our enemies who illegally invade our land. That’s what treason is.”
“And by our law, representatives and senators can be kicked out and no longer serve in our government and it’s a crime punishable by death is what treason is,” she adds in a speech to a vocal crowd of supporters. “Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason and we want her out of our government.”
A spokesperson for Ms Greene was contacted by The Independent for comment on the tweets but did not hear back immediately before publication.
