Conspiracy theorist Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (Republican, Georgia) attempted to question a witness during a hearing on so-called “left-wing organised violence” on Tuesday.
But she may have got more than she was expecting with the reply.
Greene began by mispronouncing the name of the witness, Amy Spitalnick, a senior advisor on extremism at Human Rights First, a human rights organisation.
Then, Greene suggested that people who provide abortions are the true “white supremacists,” pausing mid-rant to attack Spitalnick.
“You think this is funny, Miss Spitalnick? Is this funny to you?” she asked. “Is babies being murdered in the womb funny to you, because you’re smirking and laughing at me right now.”
Spitalnick fired back with a very serious response ― not about abortions, but the real threat of white supremacist violence.
“What’s not funny are the Black people and Hispanic people and Jewish people and Muslim people who have been murdered in synagogue, in church, in supermarkets, in mosque, by white supremacists,” she said.
“Are you aware that all-colour people are murdered?” Greene replied. “That is a fact, that every single colour person has been murdered. That’s not unusual. It’s not just that people of colour are murdered, white people are murdered too.”
See more of the exchange below:
Greene also attacked trans people and claimed “trans terrorism” was behind mass shooters, and took offence at the term “cisgender.”
Spitalnick later called her dealings with Greene and others on the right “appalling.”
Greene, a close ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California), last year spoke at a white nationalist event.
She has downplayed the threat of white supremacist violence.
“White supremacy shouldn’t be the main target,” she said last year.
Greene has also pushed conspiracy theories about mass shootings, and last year implied that they could have been staged.