MTG’s past comes back to haunt her after she claims a woman “attacked” her in a restaurant

Critics responded by pointing out the time Greene chased and harassed a school shooting survivor

By Gabriella Ferrigine

Staff Writer

Published February 28, 2023 3:49PM (EST)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, claimed on Monday that she was attacked in a restaurant by an "insane" woman and her adult son, drawing mixed reactions as critics responded by citing her harassment of a school shooting survivor.

"I was attacked in a restaurant tonight by an insane women [sic] and screamed at by her adult son," Greene wrote on Twitter. "They had no respect for the restaurant or the staff or the other people dining or people like me who simply have different political views. They are self righteous, insane, and completely out of control."

Greene said that she was working with her staff and did not notice the pair "until they turned into demons."

"People used to respect others even if they had different views," she added. "But not anymore. Our country is gone."

Critics were quick to point out that Greene before her congressional stint sought to make a name for herself by harassing Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg in the street, including Hogg himself. Greene in March 2019 followed Hogg as he walked toward the Capitol building, probing his stance on gun rights.

"He's a coward," Greene says in a video clip of the encounter. "He can't say one word because he can't defend his stance."

"Man that sucks," Hogg wrote in response to Greene's tweet on Monday. "I was attacked and screamed at in 2018 by an insane woman named Marjorie Taylor Greene. She had no respect for the privacy of me as an 18 year old school shooting survivor or my staff. She was self righteous, insane, and completely out of control."

Critics also called out the MAGA lawmaker for previously heckling President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, accusing him of being a "liar" after he called out a Republican proposal to sunset Medicare and Social Security.

But Greene did get some expected support from Joy Behar, the co-host of "The View."

"I have to say I'm on Marjorie's side on this one," Behar said on Tuesday. "I don't believe that anybody should be going up to any of us in public and harassing us and that goes for you too, Marjorie." Though Behar conceded that Greene "does this," she doubled down on her defense, saying, "I have to say I think it's deplorable that anybody would do anything like that, including her and the person who did that to her." 


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Co-host Sunny Hostin was adamantly opposed to Behar's sympathies, expressing doubts concerning the veracity of Greene's story. "She's this professional troller," Hostin said. "She was disrespectful to the president of the United States during the State of the Union. She heckles people all the time. I need more information." 

Critics also called out Greene's complaints in the wake of her vote on Monday, when she and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., were the only two House lawmakers to oppose a measure mourning the victims of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the Assad regime.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who sponsored the resolution, said on the House floor that "Congress stands united. We will never normalize with you. We will hold all those who attempt to normalize with you accountable, and we will not stop supporting the people of Syria to have a government they deserve based on democracy with rule of law, not authoritarians with rule of gun." The legislation passed 414-2. 


By Gabriella Ferrigine

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

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