‘I Have a PhD in Recognizing Bullshit’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Responds to FDA Expert Testifying Covid Vaccines Saved 3.2 Million Americans

Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks during a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) declared at a House hearing on Covid vaccines that she has a “PhD in recognizing bullshit” in a rant that included no questions for the witness to whom it was directed.

Greene honed in on Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the Food and Drug Administration, and his support of vaccines, especially for young children.

“I’m not a doctor but I have a PhD in recognizing bullshit when I hear it,” Greene told Marks.

She then cited growing numbers of VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) reports and the low number that are in active review. The Georgia congresswoman accused the FDA and others of ignoring claims from the “vaccine injured.”

Dr. Marks at one point attempted to speak, but Greene cut him off to inform him there was no question for him.

“And now you’ve authorized that children should receive these vaccines and even babies as young as six months old. That is shameful. That is shameful. I’m not asking you a question. I’m going to continue speaking, thank you. This is my time,” she told the doctor.

Greene pointed out Brianne Dressen at the hearing. Dresson took part in an early AstraZeneca trial for the Covid vaccine and she’s since claimed to have had neurological health struggles since her 2020 shot.

Greene accused Marks and the FDA of ignoring cases like that of Dressen, though she did say Marks had spoken to Dressen in the past. She encouraged him to do so again after the hearing to discuss her case.

There are a number of reports about rare adverse effects from Covid vaccines, though most effects are minor and temporary, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A 2022 study from the Commonwealth Fund and Yale School of Public Health found that Covid vaccines had saved more than three million lives and kept more than 18 million out of the hospital.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) immediately apologized to the room over Greene’s lengthy comments and vaccine criticisms.

“I’m sorry you all had to go through that. That was a lot of conspiracy theories and wild accusations, which we know have been debunked by medical science and we should be clear that vaccines work and save lives and they have saved millions of lives in this country,” he said.

Garcia then brought out a blown up tweet by Greene in which she wrote, “vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.” This was in response to a company dropping their vaccine mandate.

Garcia also brought out a poster featuring more public comments by Greene in which she asked about the relationship between Covid vaccines and something called “turbo cancer.”

“Have the Covid vaccines resulted in an increase in cancers, and are ‘turbo cancers’ real?” Greene asked at a January hearing.

Garcia gave Dr. Marks the opportunity to answer the question.

“I’m a hematologist oncologist that’s board certified, I don’t know what a turbo cancer is. It was a term that was used first in a paper in mouse experiments describing an inflammatory response. There are — we have not detected any increase in cancers with the Covid-19 vaccines,” he said.

Getting a chance to speak, the doctor also pushed back on Greene’s criticism of vaccines for young children.

“I do need to apologize to the thousand or so parents of children who are under four years of age who have died of Covid-19 who were unvaccinated because there were deaths and are continuing to be deaths in children and that is the reason why they need to get vaccinated,” he said.

Garcia, who lost his mother and stepfather to Covid, called remarks from Greene “personally insulting.”

“Anytime that folks, especially folks on this subcommittee on the pandemic, attack vaccines, it’s personally insulting to all of the families that have actually lost loved ones,” he said. “We’ve saved millions of lives because of the vaccine. It’s unfortunate we keep causing this harm.”