Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene clearly thought playing dumb would be her saving grace as she took the stand last Friday during a hearing about a lawsuit challenging her re-election eligibility.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a group of Georgia voters, alleges the conspiracy theory-pushing Republican’s re-election bid violates the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from running for federal or state office. (Greene has denied doing so.)
During the hearing, Green repeatedly claimed “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” when questioned about her conduct surrounding her efforts to overturn the 2020 election. When asked if she advocated for martial law to prevent Joe Biden from assuming the presidency in 2021, Greene again said she couldn’t recall.
But an explosive CNN report from this week shared a text Greene allegedly sent to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after the Jan. 6 attack in which she appeared to do just that.
“In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law,” Greene allegedly wrote to Meadows, apparently misspelling martial law. “I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know.”
Despite what seems to be clear evidence, Greene is using ignorance as a defense. When Fox News host Laura Ingraham gave her a chance to address the reported text on her show Wednesday, Greene sowed doubt about whether she sent it.
“I don’t recall ever advocating for martial law,” Greene said.
She then pointed to the “I don’t know” portion of the text and suggested the phrase shows she technically didn’t advocate for martial law.
“I don't recall ever advocating for martial law. IDK if you have that up on the screen right now but if you put that text message up, it's clear & easy to read that, if that's my text messages and that's what they're reporting, I don't recall if they are.”pic.twitter.com/AoDLOVttly
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) April 28, 2022
Ingraham ran cover for Greene during the segment. She failed to include what came after the “I don’t know” portion of the text, giving the impression that Greene was just — you know — sharing other people’s recommendations to initiate a military coup.
But here’s the full text, according to CNN:
In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law. I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!
The line Ingraham referred to — shortened as it was — still casts Greene in a terrible light. But the full message brings her deranged mindset into clearer view. It defies logic to think sprinkling a little “I don’t know” into a text floating martial law as a solution amounts to a rejection of the idea.
There are a lot of things Greene doesn’t know. She is, after all, the dim mind behind widely mocked phrases like “gazpacho police” and “commander and chief,” so feigning ignorance isn’t much of a stretch for her. But her most recent attempts at playing dumb are just too blatant to believe.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.