Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Hasn't Seen Any Extremist Trump Supporters

Marjorie Taylor Greene has said she has not seen any supporters of Donald Trump who are extremists, in an exchange with a professor giving expert testimony on the government's role in countering dangerous disinformation.

The remarks came during a Homeland Security Committee hearing on Thursday at the House of Representatives about whether the federal government was fostering censorship. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor of sociology at the American University in Washington, D.C., who has written about the rise of extremism, said she did not worry about what people believe but whether they were tending towards violence.

The hearing examined whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had possibly overreached in its efforts to defend the nation against disinformation and malinformation while upholding constitutional rights.

While Trump remains a popular candidate among many Republicans, some of his more ardent supporters have been accused of exhibiting violent or hateful tendencies—in particular, those involved in the January 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol. While Trump and his allies have defended them as "great people," many have faced criminal charges in the years since.

At the end of her allotted time, Greene, a GOP congresswoman for Georgia, asked Miller-Idriss whether she considered Trump supporters extremists.

The director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab responded: "We are worried about violent extremism—not about what people believe, but to the extent that they are moving toward violence."

"Trump supporters, specifically," Greene replied, to which Miller-Idriss said: "If they're calling for violence, it doesn't matter to me who they support."

Greene then remarked: "I haven't seen any. By the way, there's a great rally in Iowa this weekend, if you want to study people on the right and what they believe."

Trump is due to hold a rally in Des Moines on Saturday as he continues his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. According to the latest YouGov poll of 451 registered voters, Trump has 50 percent support compared to 36 percent for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not officially declared his candidacy.

In the 28 months since the January 6 attack, more than 1,033 people have been arrested over their alleged involvement, the Department of Justice said in a May 6 update, with around 570 people pleading guilty to various federal charges, and 78 have been found guilty at trial.

Among those charged include 103 accused of entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon, and 346 alleged to have assaulted, resisted, or impeded officers that day.

During his town hall broadcast on CNN on Wednesday, Trump said he was "inclined to pardon" a "large portion" of his supporters who have been charged over the January 6 attack. "They were there with love in their heart. That was unbelievable and it was a beautiful day," he said.

Ahead of Thursday's hearing, Dan Bishop, the Republican chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability, had alleged the Biden administration had "chosen censorship and suppression over free speech."

He pointed to the Disinformation Governance Board—which had been tasked with advising on countering disinformation that threatened national security—which Bishop described as "dystopian" and "the tip of the iceberg of their censorship laundering."

The Disinformation Governance Board was terminated by the DHS in August 2022, following a recommendation from the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

A DHS spokesperson told Newsweek the board's purpose had been "grossly and intentionally mischaracterized. It was never about censorship or policing speech in any manner. Quite the opposite: It was designed to ensure we fulfill our mission to protect the homeland while protecting core constitutional rights."

The spokesperson continued: "The department is focused on disinformation that threatens the security of the American people, including disinformation spread by foreign states such as Russia, China and Iran or other adversaries, such as transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling organizations.

"Such malicious actors often spread disinformation to exploit vulnerable individuals and the American public, including during national emergencies," the spokesperson said.

Update, 05/12/23, 11:32 a.m. ET: This story was updated to include comments from a DHS spokesperson.