Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) accused her opponent for her seat in congress, Marcus Flowers, of “defaming [her] character” when he disputed her claims that she was a “victim” of the January 6 Capitol riots.
Greene and Flowers’ exchange occurred during a debate as part of the Atlanta Press Club‘s 2022 Loudermilk-Young Debate Series, a series of debates featuring candidates for several federal and statewide offices on the November ballot.
Flowers brought up Greene’s promotion of election conspiracy claims made by former President Donald Trump and his allies in response to a moderator’s question and stated that every person he has met on the campaign trail does not want Greene representing them.
Greene jumped in and demanded the opportunity to respond, despite a moderator’s attempt to move on so Greene could be asked a separate question.
“I need a rebuttal to that,” Greene said. “You cannot accuse me of insurrection. I was a victim of the January 6 riots as any other member of Congress, that was the third day I had on the job, I had nothing to do with what happened there that day, and I will not have you accuse me of that.”
Greene continued to condemn Flowers for “lying” about her, adding, “you will not defame my character in that manner.”
Flowers turned and asked Greene directly, “Did Joe Biden win the [2020] election, Congresswoman Greene?”
Greene responded, “Joe Biden is the president of the United States, Marcus.”
Flowers agreed, but noted Greene “pushed a Big Lie that said he did not win the election.” He further alleged that Greene “drove those people to the Capitol on January 6 with your lies.”
Flowers and Greene went back and forth even more as Karyn Greer, one of the debate moderators, attempted to get the debate back on track.
Greene continued to speak over both Flowers and Greer, claiming that election fraud had been “proven” by unspecified evidence uncovered as part of a bogus Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
“My husband has the proof of it,” she said, “we have FOIA evidence of proof of election fraud that came out.”
Greer stated repeatedly that the debate was going to move on to a question for Greene, before pointedly asking her: “Would you like the question?”
Finally, Greene relented and says, “yes, ma’am, thank you.”
Rep. Greene’s husband, Perry Greene, filed for divorce last month after 27 years of marriage, as reported first by TMZ. The Congresswoman released a statement confirming the news where she said, “Perry and I formed our family and raised three great kids.
He gave me the best job title you can ever earn: Mom. I’ll always be grateful for how great of a dad he is to our children.”
Greene made it a point earlier in the debate to defend people accused of being involved in the January 6 attack against what she sees as a “two-tiered” justice system imposed by Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice. Flowers charged her with “providing aid and comfort to the January 6 insurrectionists” and “criminals.”
