MTG attacks transgender people and ‘illegal aliens’ during RNC speech

In the days leading up to her convention appearance, the Republican firebrand accused Democrats of being behind the attempted assassination of Donald Trump

Graig Graziosi
Tuesday 16 July 2024 17:57 BST
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Related video: Donald Trump met with ‘USA!’ chants on arrival at RNC

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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene complained about the southern border and attacked transgender people during her speech on the opening night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

After reflecting on Donald Trump’s attempted assassination, Greene launched into a checklist of far-right talking points, using anti-trans rhetoric.

“For far too long, the establishment in Washington has sold us out. They promised unity and delivered division. They promised peace and brought war. They promised normalcy and gave us Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday," she said. “And let me state this clearly, there are only two genders. And we are made in God’s image. Amen.”

She then repeated a lie she frequently tells and claimed that only “illegal aliens” have found success in Joe Biden’s America.

Greene said the Democrats “ripped open our borders and allowed millions of illegal aliens to pour in, driving up the cost of housing and health care while slashing American wages and eliminating jobs ... The Democrats’ economy is of, by and for illegal aliens.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene ran through a series of far-right talking points
Marjorie Taylor Greene ran through a series of far-right talking points (screengrab/CSPAN)

She then turned her attention to Ukraine, complaining that Democrats spent more than "$175 million, of your tax dollars, to secure Ukraine's borders, but they tell us the border wall is too expensive?"

Trump's border wall cost approximately $15 billion, was not remotely close to being finished, and was widely deemed ineffective.

Her words at the convention were actually more measured than the vitriol she spewed earlier this week when she tried to blame Trump's attempted assassination on Democrats. She also called her political opponents the “party of pedophiles.”

In reality, little is known about the motives of the the 20-year-old who shot at Trump and killed a 50-year-old rally-goer in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, as well as wounding two other spectators. The FBI is still investigating the incident.

That did not stop Greene from insisting that "Democrats wanted this to happen" and insinuating that somehow Democrats were behind the attack.

“The Democrat party is flat out evil, and yesterday they tried to murder President Trump,” she said, without evidence, on X.

Greene has previously downplayed the Capitol riot, has posted a campaign video where she's fired a rifle into a car labelled “socialism” after accusing Biden of giving the Taliban an American citizen “kill list,” and was questioned in 2021 over the support she showed to social media posts that called for the murder of Nancy Pelosi.

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