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Marjorie Taylor Greene defends Jan 6 because it ‘only happened one time’ as she berates journalist on video

Georgia Republican tells reporter Americans are ‘sick and tired of the drama from all you people that run around the Capitol’

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Monday 11 April 2022 20:27 BST
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Marjorie Taylor Greene defends Jan 6 saying it ‘only happened one time’

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticised the media attention on the 6 January Capitol insurrection, arguing that it “only happened one time”.

On Sunday, Ms Greene tweeted a video of herself berating NBC News journalist Scott Wong as he asked her about the 2021 riot.

“Do you think it was a mistake for [House Republican Minority Leader] Kevin McCarthy to remove all of the Republicans on the January 6 committee once [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi took off [Illinois Representative] Jim Banks and [Ohio Representative] Jim Jordan?” Mr Wong asked.

“The American people are fed up with this over-dramatisation of a riot that happened here at the Capitol one time,” Ms Greene told Mr Wong.

The GOP firebrand tweeted a video of the interview on Sunday, claiming that the following NBC report was misleading.

“Every week the press asks Republicans divisive questions about each other like this, trying to get me to say something bad or criticise” Mr McCarthy, Ms Greene wrote. “Then only report a twisted sound bite of our words. I’m not playing the game anymore.”

The video posted by Ms Greene showed that she had been accurately quoted in the NBC article.

Ms Greene said the American people “care about the border that’s getting invaded” and the prices of gas and food.

“They’re sick and tired of the drama from all you people that run around the Capitol. And that’s all you want to talk about. If you want to get outside of the city and come to my district and talk to real Americans, you’re going to hear a totally different story,” she added.

“They are sick and tired of January 6, it’s over. Okay? It was a riot. It was horrible. I hated it. I was shocked. It was a terrible experience. People are rotting in jail pretrial because they’ve been arrested for it. Why don’t you go to the jail and visit those people?” she suggested. “Everyone’s being prosecuted that should be prosecuted.”

“Why don’t you care about things that people honestly care about instead of continuing on with this?” she added. “Go ask about [Black Lives Matter] and Antifa rioters, see if they’re rotting in jail.”

The Pew Research Center ran a poll between 10 and 17 January to which 31 per cent said, “too little” attention had been afforded to the Capitol riot – 33 per cent responded that a “right amount” of attention was being given to the insurrection.

While 64 per cent of Americans believe 6 January was being given “too little” or the “right amunt” of attention, only 35 per cent said it was receiving “too much” attention.

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