Marjorie Taylor Greene Insists Capitol Rioters Weren't Trump Supporters

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has sought to distance supporters of former President Donald Trump from the January 6 Capitol riot.

During a town hall in Rockmart, Georgia held on Wednesday, Greene, a fervent Trump ally, spoke against maligning the former president's supporters in the aftermath of January 6.

Green claimed—without providing evidence—that most of the rioters arrested for their role in the attack did not vote during the 2020 presidential election.

"Trump supporters are not domestic terrorists," Greene told an audience of supporters. "That's a lie."

The congresswoman condemned the violence, insisting it "shouldn't have happened."

Then commenting on those arrested following that day, Greene went on to try and distance them from Trump's supporters.

"And most of the people that they have arrested that did the damage and really were the ones doing it didn't really vote," she said.

"From what I understand, most of them didn't even vote.

"So I wouldn't call them Trump supporters, I wouldn't call them any supporters, they didn't vote. What they were is they were anti-government."

The congresswoman also explained her position among a dozen GOP House members who voted against a resolution awarding Capitol police for their actions during the attack.

"So they awarded the Capitol Police, recently, for their work on January 6," said Greene, adding she "had a hard time with not voting for it."

"The language in that bill, number one, declared every single person at the Capitol there that day on January 6 an 'insurrectionist,'" she said. "And I do not believe that that was insurrection. I'm not gonna label people that way, okay?

"There have been riots and acts of terror all year long in American cities and we need to address—if we're going to address issues, we need to address all the issues."

Greene went on to tout legislation that seeks to award a Congressional gold medal to all police officers "for their bravery and sacrifices during the riots over the past year, all over the country."

Last month, Greene announced the introduction of legislation that would award the medals to "heroic law enforcement officers and those who protect American cities from Black Lives Matter (BLM) terrorists."

Earlier in her speech, Greene looked to shift public focus from the Capitol attack to Muslim "terrorists."

She said: "Isn't it funny how you never hear anything about terrorists anymore?

"In Colorado, a man went into a store and killed 10 people. [...] Guess what. He was a Muslim. Why aren't we talking about 'Is this a terrorist act?'"

"Then, remember, there was a man—I don't even know if you heard about it, all we heard about is January 6, the 'insurrection,'" the congresswoman continued, gesturing air quotes. "But then there was a man that rammed into the Capitol, the walls they put up, killed a police officer—got out of the car, stabbed the police officer, killed him, Capitol police officer—he was a member of the Nation of Islam."

She went on: "Why didn't they talk about that? It's not like terrorists just go away. These people are still saying that they want their religion to dominate the world. Do we just ignore that? I don't think we should ignore that."

Newsweek has contacted Greene's office for further comment.

Incensed by baseless claims of widespread election fraud promoted by former President Trump and his allies, a crowd stormed the Capitol as lawmakers debated over President Joe Biden's Electoral College win. Many were seen wearing pro-Trump clothing. The crowd had initially gathered for a Trump rally.

Five people died amid the violence.

Trump was impeached for the second time following these events. He has condemned the actions of those involved, though continues to face criticism for his actions and comments surrounding that day.

As rioters breached the Capitol building on January 6, Greene urged protesters to "stay peaceful" and "obey the laws." In a post days later that was flagged by Twitter, the congresswoman said: "Democrats must be held accountable for the political violence inspired by their rhetoric."

Following the attack, Greene raised a failed bid to object election results in Michigan, even as several of her GOP colleagues in Congress stood down from challenging the votes.

During Wednesday's town hall, Greene said she "very happily" objected to Biden's Electoral College win in six states and "would do it again over and over."