BALTIMORE — President Biden mocked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Wednesday, sarcastically asking a room full of House Democrats during their annual retreat in Baltimore “isn’t she amazing?”
The president’s comments came one day after Greene, during a hearing on Capitol Hill, asked Michigan mother and conservative activist Rebecca Kiessling — who lost two children to fentanyl-related deaths on July 29, 2020 — if her sons would be alive “if our government would secure our southern border.”
Kiessling responded “absolutely,” before discussing the rise in drug-related deaths and the government’s alleged role in the drug crisis.
Greene posted a clip of the exchange on Twitter that day, writing “Listen to this mother, who lost two children to fentanyl poisoning, tell the truth about both of her son’s murders because of the Biden administrations refusal to secure our border and stop the Cartel’s from murdering Americans everyday by Chinese fentanyl.”
A CNN fact check, however, pointed out that Greene was falsely pinning the blame on the Biden administration because former President Trump still occupied the White House at the time of the sons’ deaths.
Biden responded to Greene’s claims on Wednesday.
“She was very specific — I shouldn’t digress, probably — I read, she was very specific recently saying that a mom, a poor mother who lost two kids to fentanyl, that I killed her sons. Well, the interesting thing is, that fentanyl they took came during the last administration,” Biden said, letting out a chuckle.
He stopped himself from continuing on the topic.
“Look folks. Anyway, I don’t want to get started,” he said.
The remark, which prompted laughs from the crowd, came as Biden implored congressional lawmakers to come together in a bipartisan fashion and pass legislation on a number of issues central to his policy agenda, including police and immigration reform.
He suggested that moderate GOP lawmakers could help Democrats usher in those initiatives, and said middle-of-the-road conservatives may move toward Democrats if more Republicans like Greene emerge. The firebrand congresswoman, who was first sworn into the House in 2021, has become one of the most outspoken members of the GOP conference, and became known for her history of pushing conspiracy theories.
“We need to come together on police reform and immigration reform. We need to protect voting rights and the right to choose. Ladies and gentleman, we got to reinstate Roe v. Wade and pass it nationally. We really do,” Biden said. “And look, I know as well as you the MAGA Republicans are not gonna get on board for most of these things. But that leaves a lot of Republicans that are still left. By the way watch, watch, I predict, watch, watch what happens. Republicans can help make a significant majority on some of these things.”
He continued, listing off a number of bills Congress passed in a bipartisan fashion — including the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, the CHIPS and Science Act, a gun safety bill and the Respect for Marriage Act — before turning his attention to Greene.
“It’s hard as hell, I acknowledge, but it’s there,” he said of the possibility for bipartisan cooperation, “and, you know, a little bit more of Marjorie Taylor Greene and, a few more, you’re gonna have a lot of Republicans running our way.”
The room of House Democrats erupted in laughs and applause.
“Isn’t she amazing?” he quipped, sparking more laughs.
The Hill reached out to Greene for comment.
Source: The Hill
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