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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Graig Graziosi

Marjorie Taylor Greene moans ‘people never focus on anything good about me’ after being caught in Parkland lie

AP

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene became annoyed during her recent spotlight segment on CBS News' 60 Minutes, complaining that "people never focus on anything good" about her.

Ms Greene became defense during her interview after CBS News' Leslie Stahl began asking her to account for various statements that were either untrue, hateful, or promoted conspiracy theories.

Ms Stahl asks Ms Greene if she ever apologised to the victims of the Parkland school shooting for allegedly suspecting the event was a "false flag" attack.

Ms Green rejected the claim that she ever denied that the shooting happened and insisted that she believed that school shootings were serious events.

"I never said Parkland was a false flag ... I've never said that. School shootings are horrible. I don't think it's anything to joke about," she said.

Ms Stahl reminded Ms Greene that the journalists at CBS News came to the interview prepared and had fact checked everything they were asking her ahead of time. Ms Greene was then presented with an image of a Facebook post in which she responded "Exactly!" to another user that claimed Parkland was a "false flag planned shooting."

After Ms Stahl reminds her that the journalists fact checked her, Ms Greene becomes even more defensive, asking if the 60 Minutes crew has "fact checked all my statements from kindergarten through 12th grade and in college? And as I've paid my taxes and never broken a law. ..."

She then asked sarcastically if 60 Minutes was going to ask her about her speeding tickets, which — intentional or not — suggested an equivalency between breaking the speed limit and suggesting the government orchestrated and conducted a mass shooting at a high school in Florida.

Ms Greene complained that the interview was engaging in the "same attacks people have attacked me with over and over and over." That remark prompted Ms Stahl to explain that it was in Ms Greene's best interest to respond and set the record straight, noting that her controversial comments are "what she's known for."

The congresswoman bristled at that, claiming the only reason she is "known for" those comments is because "people constantly focus on it but never focus on anything good about me."

Despite Ms Greene's complaints that Ms Stahl was — like her other detractors — only focusing on the negative, the 60 Minutes piece was criticised on social media for being too soft on the lawmaker and "legitimising" her.

"You’re legitimizing a ghoul who harasses victims of school shootings, @60Minutes. But yeah, @LesleyRStahl, you’ll get tons of attention!" actor Bradley Whitford wrote on Twitter. "Not great for a generation traumatized by gun violence. Shame on you."

The segment followed Ms Greene as she toured her home district in Georgia. Fans were shown flocking to her as she and the 60 Minutes crew travelled throughout the district.

The show also highlighted Ms Greene's CrossFit routine, including footage of her working out while she chatted with Ms Stahl.

Mary Trump, Donald Trump's niece, expressed a similar distaste for the segment as Mr Whitford, offering up her own "fixed" headline for the segment.

“American insurrectionist, Marjorie Taylor Greene, has no shame and isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how despicable and anti-American they are," she wrote. “She sits down with former-journalist Leslie Stahl [sic], who does her level best to normalize Greene’s fascism. DON’T WATCH tonight!”

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