Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was not having it with CNN’s Jim Acosta when he confronted her near the U.S. Capitol.
“You know, Jim, you have a show, and, in all fairness, you try to present this image of me to your viewers, and it’s just really not correct,” Greene said to Acosta during the exchange.
Acosta asked Greene if she sent a text message asking former President Donald Trump to declare martial law on January 6, 2021, amid the Capitol riot.
She responded, “I don’t recall those being my text messages, but have you read the text message that you’re referring to?”
“I did. It was misspelled, but it seemed to say you were for martial law,” he said before the two started going back and forth.
The Georgia Republican lawmaker then accused Acosta of “lying again,” before saying, “You’re just another one of those liars on television. And people hate it. They can’t stand the liars on television.”
When asked to quote the “supposed text message” and “be honest for once,” Acosta pulled out his phone to read it.
“Let’s look at it,” Acosta said, adding, “‘In our private chat, with only members, several are saying that the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law.’ ‘Martial’ was misspelled. ‘I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him.'”
Repeating the texts are “supposedly” hers, Greene fired back to get Acosta to stop talking, “Wait, hold on, stop!” She added, “Why don’t you tell that story?”
After Greene shouted, “You’re lying,” Acosta asked, “Why are you being so defensive about it?”
“I’m not trying to lie,” he said.
Watch the video below:
Marge Greene gets hot when confronted by Jim Acosta today about the text by her suggesting Trump should declare martial law. pic.twitter.com/Rq1KgsKuyT
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) April 28, 2022
CNN reported on Monday, “By January 17, Greene was suggesting ways to keep Trump in office, telling Meadows there were several Republicans in Congress who still wanted the then-President to declare martial law, which had been raised in a heated Oval Office meeting a month earlier.”
Per the outlet, Greene texted former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall (sic) 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!”
CNN noted that Meadows did not appear to respond.
Martial law has been declared by federal and state officials “at least 68 times over the course of U.S. history,” according to the Brennan Center. As Axios put it, “Invoking martial law in times of national emergency or violent civil unrest essentially puts the military in charge.”
