CovOps
 Location : Ether-Sphere
Job/hobbies : Irrationality Exterminator
Humor : Über Serious
 |  Subject: PERPETUALLY HOWLING DOGS OF THE IRRATIONAL LEFT: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized for surprise appearance at beige nationalist rally  Sat Feb 26, 2022 10:30 pm | |
| Incumbent Republican Georgia 14th District Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is taking heat for a surprise appearance at a white nationalist rally Friday evening.
Though she later called other speakers' racist remarks "unsavory," Greene defended her appearance on Saturday, saying she was not aware of the organizers' or crowd's prevailing views.
The event was the third annual convention of the America First Political Action Conference, a group that organizers consider a more conservative alternative to the Conservative Political Action Conference which is also underway in Orlando, and to whom Greene addressed on Saturday morning.
The AFPAC conference was organized by Nick Fuentes, an internet personality who has promoted white supremacist beliefs.
On Friday, Fuentes announced that Greene would be a surprise 'mystery speaker' at the conference. He said Milo Yiannopoulos, an alt-right provocateur who was disinvited from speaking at CPAC in 2017 because of past comments about relationships between boys and men, helped set up Greene's AFPAC appearance.
During his speech announcing Greene's appearance, Fuentes also said "our secret sauce here is these young white men," to cheers from the crowd:
A few moments later, Fuentes then asked the crowd to give a round of applause for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who earlier this week ordered that country's armed forces to invade Ukraine.
Fuentes also said "And now they're going on about Russia and 'Vladimir Putin is Hitler'. They say that's not a good thing," Fuentes immediately added, "I shouldn't have said that."
When she took the stage, Greene praised the crowd, referring to them as "cancelled Americans," something she apparently referred to in a tweet later in the evening:
“You’ve been handed the responsibility to fight for our Constitution and stand for our freedoms, and stop the Democrats who are the communist party of the United States of America,” Greene said.
Greene also claimed Democrats have destroyed "gender" and "pronouns." She concluded her remarks by calling for everyone to pray.
Her speech was immediately followed by a series of speeches from prominent white nationalists and extremists.
“They want to replace you,” said Vincent James Foxx, a former propagandist for the white supremacist street-fighting club Rise Above Movement. “Western white culture is the majority culture, to which even non-whites assimilate into today — and they’re better off for it.”
Then far-right podcaster Stew Peters called for the execution of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whom he falsely blamed for causing the coronavirus pandemic.
“Tony Fauci literally unleashed a bio weapon on the world. Why is this man running around free instead of hanging on the end of a noose somewhere?”
The crowd roared.
Greene's appearance drew criticism from several corners.
Atlanta-based conservative talk show host Erick Erickson tweeted, "This is appalling. The guy Marjorie Taylor Green with is a David Duke type anti-Semitic racist who defends Hitler. Nick Fuentes should be shunned, not embraced."
Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee, issued a statement saying “White supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry are disgusting and do not have a home in the Republican Party.”
The group Republican Jewish Coalition released a statement saying it condemned Greene's appearance "in the strongest possible terms."
"It is appalling and outrageous that a Member of Congress would share a platform with an individual who has actively spread antisemitic bile, mocked the Holocaust, and promoted dangerous anti-Israel conspiracy theories," the release said.
Greene said she did not know who Nick Fuentes was prior to her appearance at the event. "I've never heard him speak, I've never seen a video, I don't know what his views are," she told members of the press after her CPAC appearance.
Greene defended her appearance saying she "went to address [Fuentes'] very large following, because it's a very young following I'm extremely concerned about."
Greene also made it clear that she thinks Putin "is a murderer and he should have never invaded Ukraine. What he is doing is completely wrong. I stand with our NATO-member allies, and I'm completely against this war."
WTVC reached out to Greene's opponents in the upcoming GOP primary for comment about this story.
Jennifer Strahan said in an email,
Aligning herself with the statements made by Mr. Fuentes and his organization is incredibly sad, but not surprising. Rep. Greene has continually shown us this is who she is and what she stands for. No matter how many formal apologies she makes, her actions prove otherwise. Luckily, Georgia's 14th Congressional District and its constituents are not represented by her. After spending ample time traveling this district and meeting with voters, it is evident that she does not accurately speak for us. It is time for new leadership in our district. This just further proves that point."
We've reached out to other GOP primary candidates for reaction as well, and we'll update our story when we hear back.
Greene's potential Democratic opponents in northwest Georgia's 14th Congressional District also denounced Greene's AFPAC appearance on their social media pages.
Marcus Flowers, who is Black, tweeted a video criticizing Greene, saying
Guess what, Marjorie Taylor Greeene? People like me, we live in this country too. We will not be silenced. We are the backbone of our communities.
Another Democratic candidate for Georgia's 14th, Holly McCormack, tweeted "Georgia deserves so much better than pro-Putin Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene."
Libertarian Party candidate Angela Pence tweeted,
"I didn’t think it needed to be said, but just to be clear White nationalism is bad. Horrifically bad. Putin is bad. Atrociously bad. I am not sure how anyone can support this. Is this what #GA14 wants?"
Early Saturday afternoon, Greene tweeted a thread in response to the controversy:
I am not going to play the guilt by association game in which you demand every conservative should justify anything ever said by anyone they’ve ever shared a room with. I’m not going to be drawn into that. I’m only responsible for what I say. So ask me about my speech.
I talked about God and Liberty. I’m also not going to turn down the opportunity to speak to 1,200 young America First patriots because of a few off-color remarks by another speaker, even if I find those remarks unsavory.
I want to embrace the young, boisterous and energetic conservatives in our movement—not cancel them like the establishment does
.https://fox17.com/news/nation-world/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-criticized-for-surprise-appearance-at-white-nationalist-rally-gop-nick-fuentes-cpac-afpac-republican |
|
