Marjorie Taylor Greene Derails Hearing By Attacking Randi Weingarten as Not a Real ‘Mother’: ‘You’re Just a Political Activist’
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, was told she was “not a mother” during a grilling by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and therefore had “no business advising the CDC” that children should stay home from school to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Weingarten appeared before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic this week when Greene’s personal-attack laden questioning caused disorder among the members:
GREENE: Miss Weingarten, are you a medical doctor?
WEINGARTEN: I am not.
GREENE: Are you a mother?
WEINGARTEN: I am a mother by marriage. And my wife is here with me, so I’m really glad that she’s here. Sharon Klein.
GREENE: By marriage. I see. Miss Weingarten, and you haven’t taught school since the 90s, so you’re not a teacher anymore.
WEINGARTEN: Representative, I’m actually on leave from my teaching position.
Greene then brought up the fact that she was suspended from Twitter for posting about her opposition to federal Covid policies, and took issue with Weingarten’s follow-up tweet, saying Greene’s suspension was justified.
“It looks like you’re more a political activist by your tweet,” Greene said, then pointed out the emojis Weingarten had posted.
“I’m not sure what the black flex is. Is that digital blackface?” Greene asked.
Weingarten tried to explain, “No, it is about honoring Black history,” when Greene interrupted, “Miss Weingarten, I reclaim my time, I didn’t ask you a question.”
Greene went on, “What I’d like to talk about is your recommendations to the CDC as not a medical doctor, not a biological mother, and really, not a teacher, either…
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) tried to interrupt Greene, but she persisted.
“Excuse me, this is my time,” she shot back. She then accused Weingarten that “none of your advice was about stopping COVID-19, it was all about teachers staying home.”
Greene then suggested that Weingarten’s advice to the CDC about having children participate in remote learning caused a rise in gender dysphoria.
“While kids were forced to stay home, and you approved of this, the number of youths with gender dysphoria surged,” Greene said while producing a chart.
“So kids were forced to stay home into so-called virtual learning, where they were spending a lot of time on social media and all of a sudden we see a direct result of this. And this is a major problem. But the other problem is, you had no business advising the CDC what the medical guidelines were for school closures. Because now we have a nation of schoolchildren who have suffered because of it,” Greene raged, concluding:
The problem is, people like you need to admit that you’re just a political activist. Not a teacher, not a doctor, and not a mother.
Rep. Garcia then condemned Greene’s attack, “Point of order, I just want to make a note that the decorum of the attacks on the witness were unacceptable, that the gentle lady from Georgia just did.
“And so it would be nice if we didn’t attack the witnesses, particularly making the decision as whether or not she’s a mother,” Garcia argued.
Garcia addressed Weingartner directly, “You are a mother; thank you for being a great parent.”
Watch the full hearing above via C-SPAN.
