Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and California Rep. Eric Swalwell are spending their August recess focused on important things: Who can lift more weight in the gym, according to two recent X posts from the politicians.
It started in a July 27 Swalwell post, captioned, “I should be working right now. But Republicans shut down Congress. So instead, I’m pumping iron at the gym.” His post seemed to refer to House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s decision to call for the August recess early and delay until September a vote on Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna’s bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Greene supported. Swalwell’s post accompanied a video of him bench pressing.
Greene to Swalwell: Bro, do you even lift?
I should be working right now. But Republicans shut down Congress. So instead, I’m pumping iron at the gym. pic.twitter.com/uNRPah17wh
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) July 28, 2025
Two days after Swalwell’s post, Greene responded with a post of her own, captioned, “I just want Eric Swalwell to bench more than 135# and Democrats to stop lying,” seeming to refer to the weight that Swalwell had on the bench press bar in the video he shared.
In the post, Greene also shared a video of herself working out in the gym, and in the background, her son is seen benchpressing what is apparently more weight than Swalwell seemed to lift in his post.
Greene’s caption concluded, “Congress is always out of session in August no matter who is in charge. And yes release the Epstein files but Democrats stop pretending like you suddenly care because you never cared about Epstein while you were in charge the last 4 years!!!”
In a comment, Greene clarified in part, “My son behind me is benching 315 pounds for sets.
Because we are a family that consistently trains. Eric Swalwell posted a stupid video benching 135 pounds lying about August recess and pretending like he suddenly cares about Epstein.”
As a comment pointed out, “It’s not August…” and while it’s true that Congress is in recess in August, Speaker Johnson called for the recess one day early, and while Congress often takes August off, there’s no rule mandating it happen.
Moreover, according to Reuters, Speaker Johnson plainly said he called the recess early to avoid a vote on releasing the Epstein files, which Greene says she supports.
Referring to his decision, Johnson said, “What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats’ political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram.”
Greene is an Epstein crusader … until she isn’t
It's not August…
— D.J. Double A (@whig_party2) July 29, 2025
It’s also not exactly true that Democrats did nothing to urge full Epstein disclosure, either, although little was done during Biden’s administration. The federal investigations into Epstein occurred while President George W. Bush was in office, and 2019, during Trump’s first term.
Neither Obama nor Biden was in office during those investigative periods, and neither Obama nor Biden campaigned on promises of transparency, like Trump did. But hey, at least we know now how much Green’s son can benchpress — apparently, that’s an important topic for our GOP leadership in Washington.
