In an interview with Fox New on Friday, Republican Party Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida praised Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for holding a fiery press conference, Mediaite reported.
Greene held the conference in response to House Democrats voting to remove her from House Education and Labor and Budget committees. She was ousted for repeatedly endorsing calls to assassinate prominent Democratic politicians and spreading conspiracy theories, including the controversial QAnon theory that claims former President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of Satan-worshiping child molesters.
Speaking with host Harris Faulkner, Gaetz heaped praise on Greene. “Bravo Marjorie Taylor Greene, that was so good I almost had to smoke a cigarette afterwards,” he said, apparently shocking the anchor.
Gaetz said that the efforts to marginalize his colleague have already backfired, turning her into one of the most powerful conservative politicians in the country.
“She was policy-focused, she was graceful, I think she pointed out the hypocrisy in the media. Most importantly Harris, we saw that yesterday, Democrats made Marjorie Taylor Greene certainly the most powerful freshman in Congress, and possibly one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress.”
“Marjorie is off the proverbial leash right now,” Gaetz added.
During the briefing, Greene sparred with reporters, attacked prominent Democrats, defended Trump and repeatedly claimed that being kicked off committees will only leave more space for her to focus her efforts elsewhere.
The congresswoman argued that serving on House panels would have been a “waste of time” anyway, because the Democratic Party controls the lower chamber.
“I can talk to more people and make connections and build a huge amount of support that I’ve already got started from people that want to put America first,” she said.
Greene also claimed that it was “hypocritical” to oust her from the panels over comments she made before running for Congress when millions of Americans are still “devastated” over the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality.
She apologized for making inappropriate and offensive comments in the past, but quickly pivoted back to slamming her political opponents for pursuing a second impeachment of Trump.
The Georgia Republican claimed that Trump cannot be held responsible for the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol because the violence was planned months in advance.
A loyal Trump ally, Gaetz has repeatedly attacked his colleagues for criticizing the former president.
Earlier this week, as Forbes reported, he offered to resign from his position to represent Trump in the upcoming impeachment trial.
Last week, Gaetz organized a rally in the state of Wyoming, in order to put pressure on Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump.