Explaining why he wouldn’t “denounce” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) as a legislator and competent representative for the people of Georgia, the newly selected GOP vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance said “it’s fine” if people like Greene “believe crazy things” because “believing crazy things is not the mark of whether somebody should be rejected.”
[NOTE: Vance brought up the question — in a video being re-circulated by the Biden campaign — about rejecting Greene after admitting he is “regularly asked by donors in Ohio” if he would be willing to denounce her. Treating the question as if it has no legitimacy, Vance says he tells donors “Who cares?” — ignoring the fact that donors who “regularly” ask that question must count among those who “care” about such things.]
Greene herself also gets asked about it, and she does not appreciate being asked:
“Emily, you’re a conspiracy theorist… We like the truth.”
Why did Marjorie Taylor Greene tell @maitlis to fuck off?
Coming to @GlobalPlayer pic.twitter.com/Ye6momF7Jx
— The News Agents (@TheNewsAgents) March 6, 2024
Notably, Vance doesn’t defend Greene by saying that the things Greene has expressed belief in — including various QAnon conspiracy theories — are not “crazy.” Instead he proceeds from the premise that they are, and says that it’s okay for Greene to believe these crazy things under one condition: that Green also believes in certain “important truths” to go along with the “crazy things.”
JD Vance defends Marjorie Taylor Greene promoting QAnon, 9/11 conspiracy theories, and Jewish space lasers: “Believing crazy things is not the mark of whether somebody should be rejected” pic.twitter.com/3ebLlHa7qF
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 20, 2024
If a person meets that criteria — believing in certain truths — then they are welcome to Vance’s respect and approbation even if they “believe some crazy things on the side.”
(In a 2017 video that’s no longer public but which has been widely quoted, Greene said about Trump’s election: “I’m very excited about that now there’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it.”)
Vance specifically says: “Believing important truths should be the mark of whether we accept somebody, and if they believe some crazy things on the side that’s fine — we need to be okay with non-conventional people.”
As bad takes go, extreme-right-wing Republican politician @MTGreenee (Marjorie Taylor Green) wins Twitter today. #TrumpIndictment #TrumpArraignmentpic.twitter.com/X7rOzsekpq
— Matt Bishop (@TheBishF1) April 4, 2023