Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to live up to her reputation as one of the most controversial politicians in Washington, D.C.
The congresswoman representing Georgia’s 14th Congressional District is holding a gun giveaway for an AR-15 called the “Honey Badger,” a weapon that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives attempted to regulate after deeming it a “short-barreled rifle.”
“Win the gun that TRIGGERS the Fake News Media and Democrats all across the country,” Greene wrote on her campaign website page dedicated to the giveaway. “And it’s the same type of gun the hate-America gun-grabbers in DC would love to BAN if they ever get the votes.”
Greene’s giveaway comes in the wake of President Joe Biden calling on Congress to pass gun reform legislation, including a ban on assault weapons. He called for background checks for all gun sales, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and an end to legal immunity for gun manufacturers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later announced plans to revive background check legislation that had been held back during former President Donald Trump’s tenure in office.
Greene, who previously raffled off two guns during her 2020 congressional campaign, has vowed to oppose any proposed gun reforms. She proposed a national gun sanctuary plan that would hinder gun control and later released an “emergency petition” in an attempt to stop Democrats from imposing what she claimed was the “worst gun-control schemes on every law-abiding gun owner.”
“This won’t happen on my watch,” she stated.
Greene has faced scrutiny for her support for the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory as well as well-documented cases of Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, and bigoted statements on social media. She supported the so-called Stop the Steal movement, peddling the same baseless election fraud conspiracy theories that incited the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. In February, Congress voted to strip her of her committee assignments for propagating baseless conspiracy theories about 9/11 and the Parkland school shooting as well as supporting calls for violence against Democratic politicians, including Pelosi.
Despite her controversial statements and tinfoil hat conspiracies, Greene remains popular within the GOP base. She raised $325,000 in two days in February and later boasted about raising another $1.6 million from 60,000 donors.
Though no longer on any congressional committees, the freshman congresswoman continues to be a thorn in the side of Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress. Last week, Greene filed a motion to adjourn the House—a motion that forces every member to cast a vote to keep Congress in session. She has repeated this motion several times since taking office in an attempt to obstruct congressional proceedings.
"Some GOP members complained to me that I messed up their schedule,” Greene tweeted after her most recent motion last Wednesday. “I'm not sorry for interrupting fundraising calls & breakfast. GOP voters are tired of weak Rs."
