Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) made a scene and disrupted a classified briefing about the spy balloon that traveled over the continental U.S., reported The Hill on Thursday.
“Biden administration officials briefed House members behind closed doors in the Capitol Thursday morning on this weekend’s downing of a Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast, which capped off a days-long saga of following the balloon as it floated over the U.S.,” reported Mychael Schnell. “One lawmaker who attended the briefing said the exchange between Greene and the officials included profanities.”
“When she got to ask questions, she was yelling out saying ‘bulls—’ and, you know, ‘I don’t believe you,’” said that lawmaker. “Just screaming and yelling, irrational in my estimation.”
In a statement to The Hill, Greene was unapologetic for her behavior: “I had to wait in line the whole time. I was, I think, the second to last person, and I chewed them out just like the American people would’ve,” she said. “I tore ‘em to pieces.”
The balloon, which Chinese officials tried to claim was just a weather instrument that was blown off course, sparked an intense debate over whether to shoot it down immediately or wait for a more strategic moment. The military decided to wait until it was over the water, in part to prevent falling debris from threatening people and structures on the ground, and also partly to make sure it landed in an advantageous place to recover the pieces.
Greene’s outburst in the hearing comes after she drew controversy for loudly heckling and shouting down President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address, including when he was discussing how to tackle the fentanyl epidemic.