Marjorie Taylor Greene says something weird about January 6: The Georgia Congresswoman, who has been an advocate for those accused of wrongdoing on the day of the insurrection, says their reaction to the 2021 riot will hurt the Democrats in the end.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Strikes Again
To most people, January 6, 2021, was the day a violent, rampaging mob attacked the Capitol, in a failed attempt to get Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat overturned. That day has resulted in the second impeachment of Donald Trump, hundreds of criminal convictions, and, somewhat indirectly, one of the current criminal indictments against the ex-president.
But to some hardcore conservatives, January 6 is something very different. Or rather, a couple of different things. Some call it a “false flag,” pushed by Antifa and/or the FBI, to make Trump supporters look bad. Others call it a horrible injustice that so many people were arrested and kept in less-than-ideal jail conditions. Still others call it “the best day of their lives.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), no stranger to conspiracy theories, has long advocated for those accused of January 6 crimes. Now, she claims that their response to the insurrection will end up hurting… Democrats.
The occasion was “The Insurrectionist Next Door,” a new documentary directed by Alexandra Pelosi, the veteran nonfiction filmmaker and daughter of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In the film, the younger Pelosi interviews several people who have been convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riot and explores their backstories and what they’ve learned from the experience. The film is streaming on Max.
Greene this week posted a clip of one of the subjects of the film, Paul Hodgkins, making clear that even after he was sentenced to eight months, he still supports Trump and continues to watch conservative media. Hodgkins, and other subjects of the film, have some regrets about their actions, but have not undergone any type of ideological conversion.
“They wanted Jan 6 to be the reason Americans turned their backs on Trump and they are trying to use it to destroy him,” Greene said on the former Twitter. “But it didn’t work, it won’t work, and it will never work. Because it’s only exposing Democrats for who they really are, which will destroy them in the end.”
It’s something of a strange thing to allege. Some Capitol rioters have turned against Trump, expressing more remorse over their actions than Hodgkins did. In fact, one of the accused rioters interviewed in the film says he voted for Biden in 2020 and only showed up to the Capitol because his sister brought him along.
Back in August, Greene had tweeted something else strange, even using what appeared to be footage shot for Pelosi’s documentary. It was a 90-second clip, probably secretly recorded in which Alexandra Pelosi interviewed someone described as “the family of a Jan. 6 defendant.”
In the clip, Pelosi says to the person she’s interviewing “I know you’re not the bad guy” and “if there was an insurrection, you were supposed to be in line, marching… you were supposed to have a plan.”
The video, first posted months earlier by MAGA social media figure DC Draino and then amplified by Greene, implied that Pelosi was calling January 6 a hoax. Clearly, she was not, the assertions made in Draino’s tweet — “J6ers can’t get a fair trial in DC… Media overhyped it… Need a new war to distract Americans… J6 had ‘no guns, no plans…just people taking selfies’… No actual insurrection” — were not being made by Pelosi herself but rather by the person she was interviewing.
The leaked clip did not appear in the final “Insurrectionist Next Door” film.
Alexandra Pelosi’s previous film was 2022’s “Pelosi in the House,” during which she followed her mother for a year, culminating in the January 6 riot. This yielded some behind-the-scenes footage featured in the January 6 Committee’s presentation.
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. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
