Rep. Jim Clyburn Tells CNN Marjorie Taylor Greene Doesn’t Believe ‘The Stuff She’s Saying’ About Jan. 6 Insurrection

Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) theorized Saturday that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and other Republicans “would love to see this country turn against each other” but that they do not actually believe the conspiracies they promote.

In the interview with CNN’s Jim Acosta that centered on the first federally recognized Juneteenth holiday, Clyburn said he hopes today will mark the day that politicians from both parties “begin to communicate in earnest so that we can continue our pursuit of a more perfect union.”

Juneteenth, now a federal holiday, commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., specifically marking the date when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas — two and a half years after the bill was signed.

“That’s what’s causing our problems today,” Clyburn continued. “We don’t talk with each other. We talk past each other. We talk about each other. But we do not talk with each other. I would hope this will be a reckoning on that front.”

Asked by Acosta whether it was “one step forward, two steps back” to have made Juneteenth a federal holiday amid the passage of restrictive voting laws, Clyburn said, “that’s part of my point here.”

“The fact of the matter is we know that the Constitution is something that keeps this country together, and when we fail to give due recognition to the constitutional principles that have kept us in pursuit of perfection, we run the risk of losing this democracy,” Clyburn said. “We came close to doing that on January 6th. We cannot pretend that January 6th did not happen.”

He noted that the country needs to “reckon with the things that brought [January 6th] about.”

“So when I see my Republican friends refusing to establish a committee or a commission to look into this, to make sure it doesn’t happen again, to make sure this country stays together as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, that’s what this is about,” Clyburn said. “And hopefully June 19th, this year, 2021, will be the day that we came to grips with that.”

Acosta then addressed “this crazy conspiracy theory” that the FBI orchestrated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and disagreed with Clyburn’s opinion that the ones pushing it do not actually believe it.

Clyburn said “we have a responsibility of debunking this foolishness,” but added that “nobody believes that.”

“They just feel this is one way to rile people up,” he said.

Acosta interjected saying, “I think some of them do believe it though, Congressman. Candidly and respectfully, sir, I do think some of them believe it.”

Clyburn disagreed and restated that “they really don’t believe it.”

“They think it’s a tool they can use to separate people. They know better than that,” he said. “When I was growing up, I’ve heard all the rumors that Black people had tails. They knew better than that.”

Clyburn added: “Marjorie Greene, whatever her name is, she really does not believe that stuff she’s saying. She is saying the stuff she thinks will rile people up, because they really would love to see this country turn against each other.”

Watch above, via CNN.