WH calls Greene’s comments about Jan. 6 Capitol attack a ‘slap in the face’

During the White House briefing on Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said comments made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., were a “slap in the face” to police and others who responded to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Speaking at the New York Young Republicans Club Gala on Saturday night about the attack on the Capitol, Taylor-Greene said “If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won.” She added, “Not to mention, it would have been armed.”

Video Transcript

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: What is in the incoming House Republican majority doing, one of their leaders, majority Taylor-Greene, Marjorie Taylor-Greene is saying, quote, "If Steve Bannon and I organized January 6, we would have won. Not to mention, it would have been armed." This is what is coming from a member of Congress. And what's more, she said to a group that lashed out against condemning Holocaust denial, they were giving her an award.

You have all heard the President warn about awful conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric that used to be undermined, which undermined the rule of law in our democracy. It is just antithetical to our values as a country for a member of Congress to wish that the carnage of January 6 had been even worse, and to brag that they would have succeeded in an armed insurrection against the United States government.

Violent rhetoric like this is also a slap in the face of 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. And this is someone who is expected to have their committee positions restored. So we should let that sink in. Again, this is coming from a member of Congress. All leaders have a responsibility to condemn these dangerous, vile remarks, and stand for our Constitution, and also for the rule of law.