Former GOP Chair Shuts Down Marjorie Taylor Greene After Stepmom Comments

Marjorie Taylor Greene has been told to "shut the you know what up" by a former Republican Party chair after she controversially told a stepmother she was "not a mother" on Wednesday during a congressional committee meeting.

The House Republican made the comment to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who described herself as a "mother by marriage."

Weingarten was appearing before a House committee investigating the impact of school closures during the coronavirus pandemic. In a testy exchange, after Weingarten said she was a "mother by marriage," Greene said: "The problem is people like you need to admit that you're just a political activist, not a teacher, not a mother and not a medical doctor."

She continued: "Let me tell you, I am a mother, and all three of my children were directly affected by the school closures by your recommendations, which is something that you really can't understand."

The remark sparked a furious response from Michael Steele, Republican Party chair between 2009 and 2011, during an appearance on MSNBC.

He said: "It just struck such a raw nerve with me, as an adopted child, to think that Marjorie Taylor Greene could look at my mother and say she's not a mother. Well you need to shut the you know what up and step back, because motherhood is something that comes from the heart, it's something you do, it's an expression of love."

Steele went on to accuse the Georgia Republican of having performed a "classless act," before concluding: "I just want to say directly to Marjorie Taylor Greene, you remember that little boy named Jesus? Well, his daddy was a stepdad."

Greene's comments immediately triggered a reaction during the committee meeting, with Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia branding them "unacceptable," and telling Weingarten, "You are a mother."

On Twitter, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, his fellow Democrat, later added: "Adopted moms + dads, stepmoms and stepdads — they are all real parents, full stop.

"Anyone who tries to deny this fact is just a horrible person. No surprise it's coming from @RepMTG."

Newsweek has contacted Representative Greene for comment with a telephone call and voicemail message to her congressional office.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, Greene was accused of laughing whilst the House Committee on Homeland Security discussed a commemorative coin that depicted migrants from Haiti being chased by border patrol agents on horseback with whips. She denied the allegation, commenting: "I was laughing about something completely unrelated."

On April 25, Joe Biden hit out at Greene in a three-minute video announcing his re-election campaign, with a video of the Georgia Republican appearing on screen as the president warned about the danger from "MAGA extremists."