House Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) unloaded on a campaigner Tuesday in a heated confrontation over Social Security, throwing a campaign mailer to the floor and accusing her adversary of playing partisan games. The tense exchange occurred inside the halls of Congress after Greene was approached by Alex Lawson, executive director of *Strengthen Social Security*, a group that campaigns to protect and expand the program. But Greene, not one to mince words, turned the tables.
“You are one controversial ad funded by Democrats who donate to Democrats,” Greene fired back in a viral video of the encounter. “You’re out there asking bull**** questions.” Lawson attempted to counter Greene, holding up a Trump mailer about Social Security, but the Georgia congresswoman wasn’t having it.
“We all campaigned on protecting your Social Security. You can’t lie about it,” Greene said, emphatically tossing the campaign literature to the ground as Lawson insisted on his line of questioning. “This is your political agenda,” Greene said. “We don’t care.”
Watch:
The back-and-forth quickly escalated as Lawson accused Greene of dodging questions, and Greene accused Lawson’s group of carrying water for the Democratic Party. “You’re not media,” Greene declared at one point. “This right here is for Democrat ads to attack Republicans.”
Greene attended the first meeting of the newly established House Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, which she chairs. During this encounter, Lawson approached Greene and pressed her twice to commit to excluding cuts to Social Security and Medicare from future discussions. It’s unknown whether she was aware that the mailing included Trump’s pledge.
Lawson insisted he was simply asking Greene to take a Social Security pledge in line with Trump’s campaign promise, but Greene brushed it off. “I don’t need to take a pledge because we’ve already done that all year long,” Greene said. “And guess what? The sad story for you is the American people elected Trump, his agenda, and Republicans to lead the country because you guys suck so bad.”
Lawson later told Newsweek. “When I tried to hand Representative Greene Donald Trump’s mailer that he sent to millions of households promising not to cut Social Security and Medicare, she refused to affirm she would keep his promise.”
“I wasn’t asking for a lot, just for her to say I will do what President Trump said he wanted, no cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid,” he said.
“Not only did she refuse, she ripped the Trump mailers out of my hands and threw them on the floor in disgust. I think that is a very visual explanation of how the Republicans in Congress view the promises made during the campaign, worthless garbage.”
The incident comes as Trump’s 2024 campaign continues to emphasize his commitment to protecting Social Security. Trump has proposed changes to the program, including eliminating federal taxes on benefits and funding it through increased oil and gas drilling. While removing taxes would boost retirees’ incomes, analysts warn it could accelerate Social Security’s insolvency, potentially leading to benefit cuts as early as 2031.
