Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told a well-known British journalist to “f*ck off” at the end of an on-camera interview when asked about a conspiracy theory she had espoused.
In the clip, former BBC journalist and newsreader Emily Maitlis, who now hosts a daily podcast “The News Agents,” stopped Greene for an interview at former President and 2024 candidate Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after his wins on Super Tuesday. Maitlis started by asking Greene what the message should be to then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley (Haley has since dropped out of the race) after her defeats across the country.
“We’ve been encouraging her to drop out and support President Trump, and I think tonight is the clear message that President Trump is the clear frontrunner, he’s the winner in our Republican primary, and it’s time for Nikki Haley to drop out and support him,” Greene said. As of March 6, Haley had not endorsed Trump.
"Emily, you're a conspiracy theorist… We like the truth."
Why did Marjorie Taylor Greene tell @maitlis to fuck off? 🤬
Coming to @GlobalPlayer pic.twitter.com/Ye6momF7Jx
— The News Agents (@TheNewsAgents) March 6, 2024
Maitlis then asked Greene whether Trump was closer to picking his vice presidential candidate and if Greene should be on that list.
“He’s got a long list,” Greene replied. “I support President Trump in any way, any way he’d ask me, but I can assure you, it won’t be Nikki Haley.”
Maitlis then pivoted the conversation, asking: “Can you tell me why so many people that support Donald Trump love conspiracy theories, including yourself? He seems to attract lots of conspiracy theorists.”
Greene responded: “Well, let me tell you, you’re a conspiracy theorist, and the left and the media spreads more conspiracy theories. We like the truth. We like supporting our Constitution, our freedoms, and America First.”
Maitlis probed further by asking Greene about views the Republican espoused in a Facebook post in 2018 in response to the deadly Camp Fire in California, in which Greene insinuated the fire could have been caused by a laser or light beam coming down to Earth from “space solar generators.”
Greene didn’t mention the word Jewish in the post, but she implicated a board director of a California utility company (which pled guilty after its equipment started the Camp Fire) and vice-chairman of a company run by a prominent Jewish family, leading some to coin the theory “Jewish space lasers.” Greene defended herself against accusations of anti-semitism in her book last year.
Maitlis brought up the theory in the interview: “What about Jewish space lasers? Tell us about Jewish space lasers.”
“No, why don’t you go talk about Jewish space lasers and really, why don’t you f*ck off? How about that?” Greene countered, before walking away.
“Thank you very much,” Maitlis concluded.
