The annals of evil across history are filled with obsequious underlings who facilitated the cruelty of their wicked overlords, from Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings to… Wormtail in Harry Potter (wow, J.K. Rowling really just ripped of Tolkien wholesale, didn’t she? Sorry, wrong blonde controversy magnet). The 2020s, meanwhile, have given us Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose unbridled thirst for Donald Trump — apologies for putting that image in your head — is only rising in temperature as we head ever closer to election season.
In the latest edition of Sickening Things Marjorie Has Said on Social Media, Taylor Greene has once again proven that she is the Iago to Trump’s Jafar by parroting her usual shtick about the orange-hued former president, this time to mark President’s Day. “Wishing a tremendous Presidents’ Day to the man who will make America great again!” she wrote, apparently forgetting that his last term in office ended in actual insurrection.
As unsettling to the stomach as the above tweet is — although it does do the impossible of making Trump somewhat relatable, as I think we would all pull a similar grimace if we were forced to pose next to this woman — Taylor Greene has somehow already topped it. Swapping blind fanaticism for straight-up xenophobia, MTG used the appointment of immigration rights advocate Kelly Wong to the San Francisco Elections Commission to get on her hateful high horse once more.
Yet again, we are asking — nay, pleading — with Marjorie to please do some rudimentary research before deciding to wade into a topic she clearly has no knowledge about. Wong’s new position is possible thanks to a 2020 voter-approved measure that removed the requirement of citizenship from those serving on SF boards, commissions, and advisory bodies. The seven members of the commission are each appointed by a different city official, with the Board of Supervisors voting unanimously for Wong. As one Twitter user accurately put it, “That’s called Democracy working!”
Thirdly and — because I think this as much MTG madness as we can handle in one go — lastly, Taylor Greene also turned her eye (imagine Sauron’s eye, all flames and malevolence) to the recent incidents of alleged illegal immigrants attacking NYPD police officers. This issue is something that even both Democrats and GOPs can agree is a genuine concern that should be investigated, with commentators on both sides of the divide entering into the conversation on X. However, it’s safe to say Marjorie’s fearmongering about a supposed incoming invasion is such a monumental (and frankly despicable) leap that she might secretly be an Olympian pole vaulter.
“This is the Democrat America,” Taylor Greene’s “tweet” (actually a burble of meaningless hate speech) reads in full. “Illegal invaders who have no real desire to assimilate or pledge their allegiance to America attack law enforcement on the front lines. They weaponize Americas’s generosity against us and spit in our faces. Their loyalty lies with the violent, corrupt, war-torn country they fled and they always put America Last. Why? Because they’re not immigrants coming to America for a better life. They’re invaders trying to overthrow our country. Secure our border. Enforce the law. Deport them now!”
Well, that’s enough of her. To clear our minds and souls a little, here’s what Kelly Wong — who immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong in 2019 to undertake graduate studies — had to say about her milestone appointment. Although it wasn’t made in regard to MTG’s tweets, her statement certainly speaks to the damage Taylor-Greene’s attitudes can do on a personal level, and the importance of Wong’s achievement to the wider community:
“There are always voices inside my head. Like, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not competent. You’re an immigrant. This is not your country.’ That’s not true. If I can do it, you can do it.”
