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CNN
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Last year, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia spoke at a white nationalist event organized by Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, which led Republican leaders to denounce her.
Last week, Greene’s Twitter account was temporarily suspended by the Elon Musk-led platform over a tweet with a graphic referencing “Trans Revenge Day,” as she denounced a planned rally for transgender rights.
And come Tuesday, Greene announced plans protest in New York as former President Donald Trump is expected to be indicted on more than 30 counts, calling the case against him “Unconstitutional WITCH HUNT!»
But on Sunday, Greene was featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview the long-running show promoted on Twitter. with teasing: “Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, nicknamed MTG, is not afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and direct they may be. She sits down with Lesley Stahl this Sunday on 60 Minutes. Footage attached to this tweet by “60 Minutes” shows Greene and Stahl walking through the U.S. Capitol, walking around outside and Greene showing Stahl something on her phone.
In the segment that aired Sunday night, Stahl noted that the congresswoman had risen from the fringes to the GOP front row in two years despite a “sharp tongue” and “some pretty radical views” as well as “exaggerated” comments such as “the Democrats are a party of pedophiles. Stahl also referenced a video of Greene chasing a survivor of a Parkland, Florida, school shooting, still claiming the 2020 election was stolen and failing to criticize Trump over his spending. (The interview took place before his indictment was announced.)
But Stahl did not mention that Greene spoke at a white nationalist event a year ago while she was a congresswoman, nor did she mention her extreme anti-Muslim views and her defense of the Jan. 6 rioters.
Criticism of CBS for amping up Greene was swift and well-deserved before the program even aired. Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted beforehand: “Wow. It’s crazy that 60 Minutes does that. (Kinzinger is a senior political commentator for CNN.)
Journalist Molly Jong-Fast also criticized “60 Minutes” with the tweet: “Attention is currency and 60 Minutes is spending your money on the Jewish woman in the space lasers.” (Jong-Fast was apparently referring to Greene’s past claim that a massive California wildfire was started by “a laser” beamed from space controlled by a prominent Jewish banking family.)
David Hogg, who survived the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018 and has since become an activist against gun violence, replied“I look forward to your questions about why she thinks school shootings are wrong and why she supports QAnon.”
Greene amplified the conspiracy theory – two years before he was elected to Congress – that the Parkland shooting that left 17 people dead was staged. And in 2019, Greene appeared in a video confronting Hogg outside the Capitol as he defended laws to save lives from gun violence, shouting that the then-teenager was a “coward.” She also called Hogg “#littleHitler” on social media.
Greene’s own tweet Sunday’s promo segment wasn’t filled with her typical “fake news” smears when she doesn’t like media coverage. Greene instead urged people to tune in by praising “60 Minutes” host Stahl (and misspelling his first name): “It was an honor to spend a few days with legendary icon Leslie Stahl and the talented team of @60Minutes. Greene added: “Leslie is a trailblazer for women in journalism. And while we may disagree on some issues, I respect her enormously.
Today, it is true that “60 Minutes” over its 50-year history has featured what the show has called “controversial” guests. These include a 2000 interview with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, whose 1995 terrorist attack killed 168 people, including 19 children. And the show did a 1979 interview with Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Perhaps “60 Minutes” views Greene — who has repeatedly downplayed and even defended the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and called for the GOP to become the party of “Christian nationalism” — in the vein of her long list of controversial guests. (CBS had not responded to a request for comment from CNN at the time of publication.)
However, the choice of Greene as a guest instantly recalls comments made by then-CBS CEO Les Moonves during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, when he admitted that Trump’s candidacy “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS. Moonves added: “The money is rolling in and it’s fun. … (T)his will be a very good year for us,” concluding: “Sorry. That’s a terrible thing to say. But go ahead, Donald. Keep on going.”
Moonves may have left CBS, but it appears his mindset continues at “60 Minutes.” And that may be good for “60 Minutes,” but it’s certainly not good for America.
Cnn
