Democrats are using various tools to push back against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s extremism, most recently deploying a mix of rhetorical and procedural tactics to hold her to account for sharing nude images of Hunter Biden during a House hearing this week.
The Georgia Republican shared the pornographic images of President Joe Biden’s son, which were first published by a right-wing group that obtained a copy of his laptop, to suggest Hunter Biden engaged in criminal activity with sex workers. (She did not provide evidence to back up her claims.)
Seemingly intent on portraying Biden as comparable to Trump in terms of corruption, Republicans have pushed conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden engaging in illicit behavior financed or otherwise endorsed by his father. They’ve failed mightily in proving these claims thus far, and Greene’s obscene sideshow was a step too far for many Democrats.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, sent a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Wednesday that used a little of both. In his letter, which called for Comer to publicly reprimand Greene for her actions, Raskin said, “These pictures were displayed across America for purely voyeuristic, sensationalistic, and sadistic purposes. Our Committee, which was once chaired by heroes of the public interest like Henry Waxman and Elijah Cummings, is rapidly being reduced to the level of a 1970s-era dime store peep show.”
Comer’s support for Greene’s actions, Raskin said, set a dangerous precedent. “If this was acceptable for Rep. Greene, you are establishing it as acceptable for all Members,” Raskin said.
Raskin asked Comer to “declare that explicit pornographic images of people engaging in sex acts like the ones displayed on Wednesday will not be allowed to be displayed in future Committee proceedings absent clear legislative relevance, prior approval from both the Majority and Minority, and written consent from any individual featured in the exhibit.”
Rep. Becca Balint, a Vermont Democrat, introduced a resolution to censure Greene on Wednesday, which cited what essentially amounts to Greene’s glorified Hunter Biden revenge porn. It also referred to her support for insurrectionists, her history of perpetuating conspiracy theories and her actions that have “repeatedly fanned the flames” of antisemitism and LGBTQ hate speech.
And Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, used Greene’s porn-sharing incident to make a mockery of her following a House hearing on Thursday. During the hearing, which centered on the Covid-19 pandemic, Greene claimed Garcia broke decorum by showing off a tweet she previously shared comparing Covid health safety measures to Nazi treatment of Jews during the Holocaust.
Garcia disputed Greene’s charge that he broke decorum in real time, questioning — to no response — what rule he broke and noting he was merely sharing a public statement she’d posted to her Twitter account.
But later in the evening, as many people on social media noted the obvious hypocrisy of a lawmaker preaching about decorum after sharing nude photos during a hearing, Garcia chimed in as well.
All this reminds me of an appearance I made on MSNBC last weekend. On Sunday, I joined Lindsey Reiser to discuss my blog post on how the Biden administration appears to have learned how to harness the repulsive powers of Greene by mocking her.
Reiser posed an interesting question: Does engaging with Greene’s behavior on any level run the risk of giving it more of a platform? I said I thought Biden and company were smart to push back in the ways they have — largely, rhetorically — because I believe most Americans will recoil at her extreme tactics.
But Democrats aren’t just relying on viral clips to punish Greene and portray her as the extremist, unhinged figurehead of the conservative movement. They’re looking to procedural tools to do the trick, as well.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.