Rep. Marjorie Greene is facing backlash over a newly surfaced video that shows her harassing Parkland survivor David Hogg with baseless claims about the tragic shooting. CNN reports that the video is from March 2019, predating Greene’s recent election to office, and depicts Greene — who has previously referred to Hogg as “Little Hitler” in a social media hashtag — following the former high schooler around and taunting him with far-right conspiracy theories.
At the end of the clip, she calls Hogg a “coward” and claims that his activism was being funded by George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist who is often at the center of right-wing conspiracy theories. “He can’t say one word because he can’t defend his stance,” Greene added. The Congresswoman has since issued a statement to CNN in which she details what she was doing in the video, explaining that she was “going from office to office in the Senate to oppose the radical gun control agenda that David Hogg was pushing.”
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.@mtgreenee we don’t want to be doing this work, we’d much rather be living our lives like any young person. Instead, we’ve been forced to grow up quickly because corrupt politicians like you can’t do your damn job.
If this pisses you off, join us. https://t.co/zJ4SDmk0wK pic.twitter.com/bIul24vEQi
— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) January 27, 2021
“In 11th grade, one of my fellow [students] took our school hostage with a gun he brought to our ‘gun-free’ school,” Greene said. “I understand that fear firsthand and I will always work to protect our gun rights so that Americans can defend themselves and others against bad people intent to harm or kill them.” Notably, Greene did not appear to explain the unfounded allegations she hurled regarding Hogg being funded by Soros.
On Thursday, Hogg sat down with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota and said that he recalled the encounter with Greene and remembered just trying to “keep a straight face” and mindfulness meditation as he was berated. He said these mental tools help him to cope with PTSD and ADHD. “I was told growing up, it’s just better not to respond to bullies and just walk away,” Hogg said, then adding that he “absolutely” felt threatened by Greene, who could be heard admitting to carrying a gun in the clip. Hogg explained that, while this was intimidating, his philosophy has become “if they shoot me, they prove my point.”
“Can I just point out how ridiculous it is that it’s on the survivors of gun violence to stand up to gun violence and be the ones to try end to it? Why do we have elected officials if that’s the case? Why can’t they do their jobs?” Parkland shooting survivor @davidhogg111 says pic.twitter.com/qyUtNMDVZo
— New Day (@NewDay) January 28, 2021
Hogg and Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting, have called for the GOP to denounce Greene’s words and actions, and they have called for her to resign from the House. Guttenberg also said that he intends to speak with Greene in-person to challenge her past agreements that the Parkland shooting was a “false flag.”
“She and I are going to meet in person, and I will make sure it is recorded because I don’t want there to be any question over what was said, how it was said, and facts,” Guttenberg said. “There won’t be any questions as to facts. And I’m going to bring proof of what happened to my daughter.”
