Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, on Thursday reportedly sharply criticized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), accusing the powerful lobbying group of violating U.S. laws by providing lawmakers with fully funded trips abroad.
Speaking on The Matt Gaetz Show on One America News, Ms. Greene responded to AIPAC’s claim that her recent criticisms aligned her with progressive Democrats such as Representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
AIPAC charged that her remarks amounted to “vile rhetoric” and a vote “against the U.S.-Israel alliance.”
“I’m absolutely furious,” Ms. Greene said. “AIPAC needs to register as a foreign lobbyist because they’re breaking U.S. laws by donating to members of Congress and by taking them on a fully-funded trip to Israel. Every single freshman member of Congress this year, they just took them over just recently and had them meet with the prime minister of Israel.”
Framing the visit as more than ceremonial, Ms. Greene emphasized that members were brought to meet with “the secular government of nuclear-armed Israel,” a country, she noted, “less than $400 billion in debt,” with “taxpayer-funded healthcare and college.”
She argued that Israel “is not hurting” and “has already proven they are more than capable of not only defending themselves, but annihilating their enemies to the point of genocide,” referring to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
“The reason why AIPAC is attacking me,” she said, “is because I dared to tell the truth. If AIPAC wants to come after me and accuse me of betraying my American values—AIPAC, you know what?
You can bring it on. I am totally ready for this and this is a fight that I will fight and I will give it my all, and I can guarantee you, you’re gonna lose because America is fed up.”
Ms. Greene framed her criticism in populist terms, contending that foreign entanglements distract from domestic struggles.
“They’re fed up to here with funding foreign wars, funding foreign causes, funding foreign countries for foreign reasons that have nothing to do with Americans while Americans work their ass off every day and pay their taxes and come home and they’re living paycheck to paycheck and their credit cards are maxed out,” she said.
“I don’t care anymore,” she continued. “I honestly don’t care, so I’ll burn this bridge to the ground and I will let the flames light the way ’cause this is a fight that needs to happen.”
Matt Gaetz, the host and a former Republican congressman from Florida, responded by backing her remarks unequivocally: “If we were still in Congress, I would just say I associate myself with the comments of the gentlelady from Georgia because everything you said there is factual and true.”
Ms. Greene has recently clashed with fellow Republicans over foreign policy, including a sharp criticism last month of Representative Randy Fine of Florida for his support of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which she described as “the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza.”
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