Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has denounced critics who she says mocked her "faith" by ridiculing her claim that this week's total solar eclipse was a sign from God to "repent."
Greene claimed on Friday in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that the eclipse, which traversed a large swath of the U.S. on Monday, showed that "God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent," including "earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come."
Her comment quickly went viral, resulting in Greene being widely mocked, while a community note on X pointed out that eclipses "can be predicted centuries before they happen," while "earthquakes happen all the time, all around the world."
In a subsequent post, Greene conceded that "eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by" but doubled down on her previous remarks by saying that "God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe."
During a Tuesday interview on the War Room podcast of ex-President Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon, Greene lashed out at her critics, suggesting that her eclipse remarks were a simple tenet of her evangelical Christian faith.
"I always ignore these people for mocking me and making fun of me because I'm on the right side of history," Greene said. "They most recently mocked my faith and made fun of me [for] saying that God is sending us a sign to repent."
"I really don't care what they mock me and make fun of me about," she continued. "We're winning the information war, Steve, because we're telling the truth."
Newsweek reached out to Greene's office for comment via email late Tuesday night.
Monday's eclipse was preceded by an assortment of conspiracy theories from the far right, as well as failed predictions from some evangelical Christians who claimed that the event would bring forth the Rapture.
Greene, a staunch Trump loyalist, is well known for previously promoting conspiracy theories including the infamous "Jewish space lasers" notion and QAnon, which claims without evidence that Trump is fighting a secret war against a child sex trafficking ring run by powerful blood-drinking Democrats.
The congresswoman has since publicly disavowed QAnon. After being questioned on her history of conspiratorial beliefs during an event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago last month, Greene seemingly snapped and told a reporter to "f*** off" after hearing the phrase "Jewish space lasers."
The eclipse on Monday was the first and only total solar eclipse to be visible in the U.S. during the administration of President Joe Biden. The last U.S.-visible total solar eclipse happened roughly seven months into the Trump administration, on August 21, 2017.
The next total solar eclipse that will be visible in the contiguous U.S. will occur on August 23, 2044, while scientists have already predicted hundreds of others that will be seen in various known locations around the world until at least the year 3,000.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
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