Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized Democratic President Joe Biden's plan to forgive some student loan debt, saying the move is "rewarding" people who want her "murdered."
Greene made the absurd claim shortly after she announced law enforcement arrived at her home this week because someone made a prank call to emergency services. An unknown caller had alleged a male had been shot five times in a bathtub at Greene’s home.
Greene now appears to be capitalizing on the incident, saying in a Wednesday night appearance on Real America's Voice that student loan forgiveness helps Democratic voters, specifically "the ones that basically hate me and would love to see me murdered in some sort of swatting raid."
You can hear what Greene said in the video below.
\u201cMarjorie Taylor Greene accused Joe Biden of using student loan relief for "rewarding" people who want her "murdered" after a SWAT team was called to her home as a dangerous prank.\u201d— David Edwards (@David Edwards) 1661434212
Greene said:
"You can't afford groceries and you can't afford gas and here comes the Democrats basically rewarding their Ivy League Democrat voters, you know, the ones that basically hate me and would love to see me murdered in some sort of swatting raid and fully support the maniac that called and did that to me last night."
After making a transphobic remark that people who've taken out student loans "are probably trying to talk one of their kids into changing their gender, which is absolutely sick and disgusting," she added:
"I think everyone should be upset about this and, again, Joe Biden is off the rails."
You know, and I'll say it again. I say it over and over again: Impeach Joe Biden."
"Because I believe people should be fired when they do a bad job."
Greene has repeatedly called for Biden to be impeached, particularly over his administration's handling of evacuations from Afghanistan.
She failed to mention former Republican President Donald Trump negotiated an agreement to withdraw from Afghanistan and he released thousands of Taliban leaders from prison as part of his withdrawal deal.
Despite her stridency, Greene expressed annoyance with many fellow Republicans who admonished her for moving too quickly to impeach Biden without any viable charges and without going through the proper channels.
Her comments have now made her the target of heavy criticism online.
\u201cShe is one very sick person. How much did she receive from PPP?\u201d— David (@David) 1661507506
\u201cIs @RepMTG getting desperate because she's losing? Blaming Biden for a right wing extremist making a prank call to send police to her house? Police report is public.\u201d— Toughone (@Toughone) 1661450216
\u201cI don't condone swatting anyone. It's dangerous and people can get killed. She has a good reason to be upset about that. Even so, it has nothing to do with student loans being forgiven, and I have to ask why she is still in Congress when she does absolutely NOTHING but agitate.\u201d— LittleS (@LittleS) 1661438752
\u201cits basically mad libs\n[Joe Biden] is [forgiving student loans] to help [the people who SWATted me]\u201d— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis) 1661438845
\u201cIt's worth noting that while MTG pretends to be a victim of hate and bigotry her transphobic policies indicate that she, actually, wants trans people to suffer if not outright be murdered for daring to be trans in America in 2022.\u201d— Luciano, But They Are Quite Proud (@Luciano, But They Are Quite Proud) 1661438999
\u201cLet me see if I have this straight. Because @RepMTG was swatted, and because she assumes whoever swatted her *probably* has student debt, nobody with student debt should receive any relief?\u201d— Matthew Chapman (@Matthew Chapman) 1661440851
\u201cCan I get some pasta with all this whine? https://t.co/A6XRGCvR33\u201d— \ud835\udd3b\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd63\ud835\udd5a\ud835\udd54\ud835\udd5c \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud835\udd3b\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd63\ud835\udd5a\ud835\udd54\ud835\udd5c \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1661440515
\u201cI thot this was obvious when it was officially called \u201cThe Student Loan Forgiveness For People Who Want MajorWhiny Taylor Greene To Be Murdered By A Tactical SWAT Team Act.\u201d\n\nProbably would get more bipartisan support if it was called that\u2026\u201d— The Self-Made Widow - On Sale Now! (@The Self-Made Widow - On Sale Now!) 1661442202
\u201c\u2066@RepMTG\u2069 (the \u201cT\u201d name stands for Terrorist) You\u2019re the kind of person that likely called in the swatting yourself! And way to go thinking loan forgiveness is about you, all while, implying your supporters aren\u2019t smart enough for Ivy league \ud83d\ude44\ud83d\ude06\ud83d\ude02 https://t.co/UWp7MNPQDB\u201d— \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3bZoomCat Stands with Ukraine \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b (@\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3bZoomCat Stands with Ukraine \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b) 1661450193
Biden's decision has been hailed for helping borrowers with lower credit scores and opening up the opportunity for millions of people to catch up on rent and utility bills as well as save money that would have otherwise gone to their student loans.
\u201cUnder my predecessor, the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations got more than their fair share \u2014 they\u2019re doing just fine. \n\nNow, it\u2019s time for working people to get the help they need.\u201d— President Biden (@President Biden) 1661541366
The plan forgives $10,000 - $20,000 for individuals making less than $125,000, or couples making less than $250,000. According to the White House, the overwhelming majority of student loan relief will benefit those earning less than $75,000 a year, and no one in the top five percent of wage earners will benefit from the plan.
\u201cStudent debt relief must go to those who really need it. Period.\n \nMy Administration is ensuring that no high-income individual or household in the top 5% will benefit from debt cancellation.\u201d— President Biden (@President Biden) 1661451601
The plan—which also extends the pause on student loan debt repayments to December 31, 2022—is projected to cost the federal government around $244 billion. Forgiveness for those who've received Pell Grants will cost an additional $120 billion.
In his remarks while announcing the decision, Biden said canceling some debt would allow many people to "finally crawl out from under that mountain of debt to get on top of their rent and utilities, to finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business."
Greene was earlier trolled by the White House Twitter account after she suggested the plan is nothing more than an attempt to curry favor with liberal voters ahead of November's midterm elections.
The White House quickly pointed out Greene had $183,504 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans—which are backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and were designed to help businesses keep their workforce employed earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic—forgiven by the government.