Marjorie Taylor Greene Made a 'Fool of Herself' in Briefing: Congressman

Rep. Steve Cohen has said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made a "fool of herself" during a recent classified briefing about what authorities said was a Chinese spy ballon.

Biden administration officials briefed House members behind closed doors days after the downing of the balloon off the Carolina coast on February 4. China has denied that the object was a surveillance balloon.

Three more objects were shot out of the skies above the U.S. and Canada in the days that followed, although President Joe Biden said these had no connection to China.

Greene, a Republican from Georgia, has boasted of her performance at the briefing following the first shootdown. She told The Hill earlier this month that she "chewed them out just like the American people would've... I tore 'em to pieces."

But Cohen said he had stayed until the end of the briefing so he could watch Greene speak. She "didn't know what she was talking about" and embarrassed herself, he said on the Beyond Politics podcast earlier this week.

Cohen said officials had explained that they waited until the balloon was over water to shoot it down because of concerns about collateral damage.

"They explained it well. At the end, there were only about ten of us left in the room, and Marjorie Taylor Greene got up and had her chance to speak," he said.

"She got up and it was unbelievable. I mean, I waited to see her because I knew it would be a s***show."

Cohen said Greene had told the officials that she was going to speak to them "like the average American" and told them: "You embarrassed the president of the United States. You let this balloon fly over that of the United States."

"She went, 'we didn't know what was in that balloon, it could have been nuclear material, it could have been radiation. We didn't know what was in that balloon and you let it fly over our country for eight days? That was just s***! It was bulls***. And I don't believe anything you're telling us.'"

Cohen said when Greene "finished her diatribe," an official started responding to her comments.

"He started speaking and responding to her and she interrupted and he jumped back right in," Cohen said.

"He said, 'Ma'am, I didn't interrupt you and I'd appreciate your not interrupting me.' And she shut up."

Cohen went on: "She's unbelievable. She made a fool of herself. She made a total absolute fool of herself, didn't know what she was talking about."

When approached by Newsweek about the claims from the congressman, Greene's spokesperson Nick Dyer said: "Newsweek has become a sad shadow of its former self. It's simply a regurgitation of left-wing Twitter that no one would pay attention to if Newsweek wasn't republishing it with click-bait headlines to fulfill traffic quotas."