Blocked on Twitter, Marjorie Taylor Greene Defends COVID Claims on Facebook
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene took to Facebook on Monday night following her 12-hour suspension from Twitter and defended the claims that led to her temporary ban.
Greene, a Republican who represents Georgia's 14th congressional district, was suspended because of a pair of tweets posted on Sunday and Monday questioning the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and claiming the disease "is not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65."
She shared a 34-minute video via Facebook Live on Monday, which is still available on her page, where she strongly criticized Twitter's decision and defended her tweets.
In a wide-ranging commentary to camera that covered freedom of speech, big tech and the southern border, Greene addressed the posts that led to her suspension.
In her first tweet on Sunday, Greene suggested that the COVID-19 vaccine was "human experimentation."
In a second tweet on Monday, she responded to Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican representing Kentucky's 4th district. He was highlighting opposition to mandatory vaccinations for U.S. military personnel and Greene said it "should not be forced" on service members.
She also said COVID wasn't was "not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65" and mentioned "concerning side effects." Twitter flagged both tweets as "misleading" and added links to information about COVID-19 vaccine safety.
On Facebook, Greene suggested she only maintained Twitter and Facebook accounts because she was a member of Congress and restated her opposition to compulsory vaccination. She said that many in the military didn't want to take the vaccine and that their families were concerned.
"This should be a choice," Greene said. "I also said that the most people that are at risk of COVID-19 are those that are over age 65 and those that are obese, which, guess what, that's not our military men and women. They're not serving in the military over the age of 65."
"I would say almost all of them—or at least they should not be obese, so they're not at risk—high risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19," she said.
Greene went on to say that children should not be forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which she described as "an experimental vaccine that does have reported side effects that are very concerning."
"You see, for me to say that, that's my freedom of speech," Greene said. "It shouldn't be violated and censored because guess what, Facebook. Guess what, Twitter. Guess what, Democrats. Guess what, media. What I'm saying right now on this Facebook Live is what regular Americans are saying every day at home."
Greene issued a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday, saying: "Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of the Silicon Valley Cartel are working hand in hand with the White House to censor Americans. This is a Communist-style attack on free speech."
"These Big Tech companies are doing the bidding of the Biden regime to restrict our voices and prevent the spread of any message that isn't state-approved," Greene said. "I will not back down and I will continue to tell the truth to the American people."
Greene's Facebook Live video comes as the White House has sparred with the social media giant about misinformation on the platform. President Joe Biden accused Facebook of "killing people" last week but walked back the comment on Monday following pushback from Facebook.
"It was pointed out that on Facebook, of all the misinformation, 60 percent of the misinformation came from 12 individuals," Biden said. "Facebook isn't killing people, these 12 people who are out there giving misinformation [...] are killing people."
Newsweek has asked Facebook for comment.
Update 7/20/21 9:01 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from Marjorie Taylor Greene.
