Joe Biden takes aim at Marjorie Taylor Greene in ad: In a new online ad, the president uses audio from the controversial Georgia Congresswoman to tout his own infrastructure commercial.
Joe Biden Declares War on Marjorie Taylor Greene
Such is politics in the year 2023 that the same language used to pejoratively criticize a Democratic president at a conservative conference can then be reused, by that president himself, in a campaign ad.
Speaking at the Turning Point USA conference earlier this week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) accused President Biden of being a “Democrat Socialist,” seeking to expand the big government programs of past Democratic presidents like Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.
Greene accused Biden of having “the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete: socialism.” She also compares Johnson’s Great Society agenda with Biden’s Build Back Better.
Greene’s history is somewhat questionable, for one thing. Johnson is certainly not considered a “Democrat socialist” by any respectable historian, nor is Biden a particularly popular figure among the Democratic Socialists of today. And Greene also tries to draw a parallel by stating that Johnson, before he was president was Senate Majority Leader and then vice president. Biden was vice president, but he was not ever Senate Majority Leader.
And while Johnson actually enacted his Great Society programs, the Build Back Better package never passed into law, although a portion of it was revived as the Inflation Reduction Act last year.
The Biden ad, under the phrase “I approve this message,” uses Greene’s words — some of them, anyway — over a video of Biden signing legislation, appearing at events, and walking with Vice President Kamala Harris.
As Greene speaks of “programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, labor unions [and] he still is working on it,” Biden is shown triumphantly, as if to say, “yes, I am in fact working on those things.”
The ad, of course, omits Greene’s references to Biden being a “Democrat Socialist,” or the accusation that Biden’s presidency is “killing” the American dream.
“As I watched this I wondered (as one always should) if they re-ordered or cut some of Greene’s words, so I found the original. They changed less than you might think. Bit of rearranging. Lost ‘big gov’t’ and ‘socialist,’” NPR’s Steve Inskeep said on Twitter. “She did say the things played here.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) had a similar idea at the time of the speech, as he said on Twitter.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene thought her recent speech was an attack on @POTUS. It’s actually a huge compliment. She said @JoeBiden wants to finish “what FDR started” by supporting Medicare, rural poverty, and education. Thank you @RepMTG! More of this please.”
The Biden ad was widely praised by Democratic politicians and pundits, who also pointed out that the video has gotten tens of millions of views, in a matter of hours.
Greene herself quote-tweeted Biden’s ad with the entire video of her speech. Greene, who heckled Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this year, has also introduced multiple resolutions to impeach the president, along with his FBI director and some of his cabinet secretaries.
It was not the first time that Biden has used Greene, specifically, as a foil. Earlier this summer, he visited Greene’s district to tout an infrastructure project, for which the Georgia Congresswoman did not vote.
Greene’s Turning Point speech followed a small pivot for the Georgia Congresswoman. Recently kicked out of the House Freedom Caucus, following her confrontation with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and other incidents, Greene recently held her first-ever major fundraiser in Washington with a group of K Street lobbyists, with help from her ally, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
The Washington Post described this as Greene’s “transformation from burn-it-all-down outsider to a still-radical conservative looking for insider allies.”
Author Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
