Donald Trump conjured up a bizarre story during his campaign rally about Marjorie Taylor Greene being blown to bits as she drove a hydrogen-powered car – all the while the Georgia Representative watched on from the audience.
The former president’s rally speeches have recently been filled with attacks on hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, which are primarily made in Japan and South Korea, as he pledges to bolster the US automotive industry.
During an Atlanta, Georgia, rally on Monday evening, Trump once again trashed the electric vehicles with a story about their alleged risks – this time, placing the Georgia lawmaker behind the wheel.
“You’re not recognizable if something goes wrong. And Marjorie Taylor Greene with that beautiful blonde hair driving down the highway in a hydrogen car…,” he said of the Republican firebrand.
“And the problem with a hydrogen car, if something goes wrong, it’s like the atom bomb went off; you’re not recognizable.”
He continued: “They say, ‘We think we have it under control.’ That’s not good enough. They’ll say, ‘We thought it was Marjorie Taylor Greene riding down the turnpike. She’s no longer recognizable. We found some of her.’”
“I won’t say…,” Trump sniggered as he cut off his tale. “We love her. Stand up Marjorie, stand up.”
Greene, a staunch Trump supporter who has faced backlash for pushing climate-related conspiracy theories, was quick to address the former president’s remarks after the rally.
“I agree, Mr. president!,” the MAGA loyalist wrote on X. “Electric cars and the Green New Scam shouldn’t be forced on the American people.”
“When we elect you for the third time in 8 days, we are going to Make America Energy Independent Again!”
The former president had also pushed his anti-hydrogen-powered vehicle agenda when speaking in Michigan on Saturday.
“You’re going to build electric cars and you’re going to build all kinds of cars except hydrogen. There will be no hydrogen,” he said.
“They tend to blow up. And once they blow up, you are not recognizable anymore.”
Trump appears to be using a single explosion of a hydrogen-powered bus in Bakersfield, California, in 2023, to propel his attack on the EVs.
During that incident, the $1.1m vehicle was destroyed and part of the fueling station damaged. There were no casualties.
The Trump campaign sent the The Washington Post a link to an article citing the accident when asked about the former president’s claims about the dangers of the vehicles.
Besides that example, there appears to be no other reports of explosions or casualties in the US matching Trump’s description.
The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for more information.
