Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia refused to mince words when a CBS interviewer sought to use them against her.
Greene was interviewed on “60 Minutes” by Lesley Stahl, who in the narration of the interview spoke about Greene saying “things … that are over the top.”
In their face-to-face session, Stahl quoted Greene as saying, “The Democrats are a party of pedophiles.”
No blink. No retreat.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she stands by some of her unfounded, polarizing claims, like Democrats are “a party of pedophiles" and the 2020 election was stolen. https://t.co/33pUe30EDl pic.twitter.com/lYHaNKMYJN
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 2, 2023
“I would definitely say so. They support grooming children,” Greene shot back.
“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl countered.
“Democrats, Democrats support, even Joe Biden, the president himself, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene replied.
It was an honor to spend a few days with the legendary icon Leslie Stahl and talented crew @60Minutes.
Leslie is a trailblazer for women in journalism.
And while we may disagree on some issues, I respect her greatly.
Tune in tomorrow 7 pm ET on CBS. https://t.co/GpqTHxposb— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) April 1, 2023
After an eye-roll, Stahl then voiced her disapproval of Greene’s tactics.
“Wow. OK. But my question really is, can’t you fight for what you believe in without all that name-calling and without the personal attacks?” she asked.
“Well, I would ask the same question to the other side because all they’ve done is call me names and insult me non-stop since I’ve been here, Lesley. They call me racist. They call me anti-Semitic, which is not true. I’m not calling anyone names. I’m calling out the truth basically,” she said.
After Stahl, slightly shaking her head responded with “pedophile” in a disapproving tone, Greene stood her ground.
“Pedophile. Call it what it is,” she said as CBS then cut to a voice-over that ensured Greene’s further comments were not heard.
The interview, as with all things Greene does, made waves.
“Wow.” 60 Minutes uses their prestigious platform to showcase Marjorie Taylor Greene. Then Lesley Stahl seems surprised when Greene calls President Biden and Democrats “pedophiles”. pic.twitter.com/mG4Wevmr9Z
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 3, 2023
I tried to watch Lesley Stahl & @60Minutes interview Marjorie Taylor Greene, they unapologetically platformed an antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Lost any respect I held for 60 minutes, there’s holding politicians accountable, & there’s giving ‘em a bullhorn, y’all did the latter
— Ryan Deitsch (@Ryan_Deitsch) April 3, 2023
Good on 60 Minutes/Lesley Stahl for having the courage to take this on.Amazing that people who say they’re liberal no longer believe in free speech.The argument: “normalizing extremism” is as old as tyranny/censorship.That’s the point of the 1st amendment
https://t.co/HjdvFzulGI— Lara Logan (@laralogan) April 3, 2023
Elsewhere in the interview, she said that her opinions often reflect what the folks back home are supporting and that members of Congress are learning this.
“On an issue, when I’m outspoken about it, and I take my stand or my position, the first reaction is, ‘Marjorie’s crazy. Marjorie’s extreme. Marjorie’s a right wing extremist.’ And then what will happen is my colleagues will go back home to their district, and their own constituents are coming up and saying, ‘Are you supporting Marjorie? Do you agree with Marjorie? Have you cosponsored Marjorie’s bill?’ And then they find out, ‘Oh, maybe she’s not crazy.’ And then they end up agreeing with me,” Greene said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on CBS.
When Stahl sought to chastise Greene for being in what Stahl called “attack mode,” Greene made no apologies.
“I think our government deserves it. They don’t really deserve to be respected that much,” she said.
Go MTG!!!