'Slap in the face': White House condemns Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Jan. 6 comments

Christopher Wilson

The White House rebuked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent comments about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on Monday, calling her remarks a “slap in the face” to law enforcement and the people who died in connection with the attack.

Speaking at the New York Young Republican Club’s gala on Saturday night, the Georgia Republican referenced allegations that she had been involved in the planning of the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks at a press conference on funding for Ukraine.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at a press conference on funding for Ukraine at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 17. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“I will tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I organized that, we would have won,” Greene said to cheers and applause. “Not to mention, it would have been armed.”

In a comment to Yahoo News Monday, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, “It goes against our fundamental values as a country for a Member of Congress to wish that the carnage of January 6th had been even worse, and to boast that she would have succeeded in an armed insurrection against the United States government.”

Andrew Bates speaks into a microphones at a podium with plaque that reads the White House, Washington in front of Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young and Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates at a press briefing in the White House in March. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

“This violent rhetoric is a slap in the face to the Capitol Police, the DC Metropolitan Police, the National Guard, and the families who lost loved ones as a result of the attack on the Capitol,” Bates added. “All leaders have a responsibility to condemn these dangerous, abhorrent remarks and stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law.”

Greene issued a statement later Monday saying that the remarks were "sarcasm" and that she was "making fun of Joe Biden and the Democrats, who have continuously made me a political target since January 6.”

First elected in 2020 in a safe Republican district, Greene was almost immediately stripped of her committee assignments by House Democrats due to her promotion of conspiracy theories, including QAnon, and threats of violence against other politicians as well as racist and antisemitic comments. She has repeatedly said the rioters being prosecuted for Jan. 6 have been treated unfairly. At least seven people died in connection to the events of that day, and more than 100 police officers were injured.

Greene survived a legal challenge earlier this year that attempted to keep her from being on the ballot due to a lawsuit alleging she had engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States.

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces in front of the U.S. Capitol.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Earlier this year, she spoke at a conference hosted by white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who recently dined with Trump and antisemitic rapper Kanye West. When the White House denounced Fuentes, a Holocaust denier, the New York Young Republican Club, which was honoring Greene, called it an attack on free speech. Greene herself has repeatedly compared those promoting mask and vaccine usage to Nazis.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had promised to reinstate Greene to her committee assignments if Republicans won back the majority, earning her support in his race to be House speaker.

“I think that to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, he’s going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway,” Greene told the New York Times in October.

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