Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a “genocide” in a social media post, appearing to be the first Republican in Congress to use the term to describe Israel’s conduct.
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene wrote in a post Monday night on X.
Her comment came as part of a larger response criticizing fellow Republican Rep. Randy Fine (Fla.), one of three Jewish Republicans in the House, who joined the chamber after a special election earlier this year.
Greene dug into Fine over his recent social media posts about the conflict, including denying that there is starvation in Gaza.
“There is no starvation. Everything about the ‘Palestinian’ cause is a lie,” Fine wrote in a post Sunday. Last week, Fine posted: “Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.”
Greene also in her post had recounted a conversation with Fine from before he was a candidate in which she claimed he told her he and his wife were looking forward to moving to Washington, with Greene saying Fine should live in the district he represents.
In response to Greene’s post, Fine’s office told The Hill in a statement: “Congressman Fine isn’t going to comment on conversations that never happened.”
President Trump said Monday there was “real starvation” happening in Gaza and that the U.S. would do more to address it.
“I can only imagine how Florida’s 6th district feels now that their Representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children,” Greene wrote before going on to make her comment about the genocide.
“But a Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful. His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism,” Greene said.
Greene’s stance marks a major break with her party, and an escalation of her criticism of Israel — and U.S. financial support for Israel — as the war in Gaza drags on.
She posted over the weekend that “what has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific.”
Earlier this month, Greene introduced an amendment to cut funding to Israel’s missile defense, which failed in a 6-422 vote.
Greene has previously been accused of antisemitism, most famously over a 2018 Facebook post that has come to be known as the “Jewish space laser” post — though Greene never used that phrase.
In the post, Greene floated that a “laser beam or light beam” from “space solar generators” could be to blame for wildfires in California, also mentioning the “Rothschild Inc.” Greene later said she did not know the Rothschilds have long been at the center of antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Greene also voted against an antisemitism awareness bill last year, saying it would define antisemitic behavior to include remarks about Jews killing Jesus, which she said went against the Bible.
Updated at 5:02 p.m.
