Rep. Robert Garcia questioned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene about her own previous tweets during a hearing on Thursday. The hearing occurred among the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Greene Reacted To Dr. Marks’ Report With Expletive-Based ‘PhD‘
One of the tweets highlighted during the hearing focused on how Marjorie Taylor Greene apparently reacted to a report announced by Dr. Peter Marks. Green wrote, “I’m not a doctor, but I have a PhD in recognizing bullshit when I hear it.”
Dr. Marks, the director for the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had reported that COVID-19 vaccines saved “about 3.2 million” lives within the United States alone. Greene’s expletive-based reaction was in response to that remark.
Greene Accused Marks Of Expediting The Vaccination Process
The Georgia Republican reportedly accused Dr. Marks of expediting the COVID-19 vaccination process. She further expressed that the only people at-risk of facing hospitalization or death from the coronavirus were diabetics, seniors over the age of 65 and those who were obese.
She further attributed the vaccines to a variety of “injuries, miscarriages, heart attacks, myocarditis” and other neurological problems. She even added permanent disability to her extensive list.
Garcia Apologizes To Capitol Hill Audience On Behalf Of Greene
California Democrat Robert Garcia apparently apologized to those in attendance at Capitol Hill for the hearing on behalf of Marjorie Taylor Greene. He expressed that he was apologetic about them having to listen to various “conspiracy theories and wild accusations” that Greene shared.
Garcia further explained that those theories “have been debunked by medical science.” He brought printed copies of quite a few of Greene’s tweets as evidence with him to the hearing as well.
Garcia Claims Greene ‘Spread Information’, Compared Pandemic Response To Holocaust
Garcia argued that Greene “spread misinformation” through her social media posts. He also expressed that she “encouraged parents to refuse routine vaccination.”
A major highlight of his argument was when he referenced her comments regarding another historic period of tragedy in world history – the Holocaust. According to Garcia, Greene compared the response efforts made during the pandemic to that 4-year genocidal period conducted by Nazi Germany.
Greene Compared Vaccination Logos to Gold Stars Used in Nazi Germany
Garcia highlighted a tweet from Marjorie Taylor Greene originally posted in 2021 that compared vaccination logos to gold stars. Nazi soldiers would reportedly force Jewish people to wear gold stars as identifying marks.
Greene commented that ‘vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.” Garcia used that to emphasize the “level of insanity and attacks” that she hosted within her social media posts.
‘Turbo Cancer’ Comment Mocked By Garcia, Deemed As ‘Insanity‘
During his statement at the hearing, Garcia did not hesitate to reference other comments that Greene has made in the past about COVID-19. For instance, he spoke of the comments made that COVID-19 was used as a bioweapon.
Greene had even stated that the COVID-19 vaccine was known for causing “turbo cancer.” After mocking the comment by saying he didn’t know what “turbo cancer” was, Garcia further explained that there were no confirmed connections between COVID-19 vaccines and cancer diagnoses.
Elon Musk Once Reinstated Greene’s Twitter Account
This is not the first time that Marjorie Taylor Greene’s controversial social media comments have gotten her in hot water. She made headlines when her account was banned after violating the platform’s policies on spreading COVID misinformation.
The personal Twitter account of the far-right politician was banned in January 2022 as a result of her tweets. However, Elon Musk erased the ban when he reinstated her account in November of the same year. Musk frequently discussed his beliefs that Twitter became too restrictive even before he purchased the company.
Twitter ‘Temporarily Limited’ Greene’s Account Over Graphic
Twitter restricted Rep. Greene’s account in March 2023 over a controversial graphic that she posted in her feed. The graphic reportedly referenced a “Trans Day of Vengeance.”
The social media platform informed Greene of her limitations, which she then apparently turned into a screenshot and shared with her Twitter followers. The since-deleted post in question consisted of a graphic that Greene claimed was for an antifa event scheduled to be held in Washington, DC the following month. According to NBC News, Greene’s office willingly shared a copy of the since-deleted post in addition to Twitter’s communication with the politician. However, they did not respond to NBC’s request at the time for any additional comments.
Analyzing COVID-19 Vaccine Statistics
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 676.7 million COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the U.S. as of May 2023. The same report shows that more than 270.2 million people in the U.S. were vaccinated – making up for over 81% of the country’s population.
Based on the number of reported COVID-19 deaths, the National Library of Medicine confirmed that vaccinations prevented an estimated 14.4 million deaths within a year. The first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in early December 2020.
COVID-19 Vaccination ‘Altered The Pandemic Course‘
The National Library of Medicine website states that “COVID-19 vaccination altered the pandemic course.” This is based on the statistics and studies gathered from December 2020 through May 2023.
However, the same report also emphasized that the vaccinations had “less effect in low-income countries” around the world. This was primarily due to inadequate access available to the vaccinations, which drew more attention towards the need for global vaccine equity.
