Billboard Tying Greene to Hinson, Miller-Meeks Greets Fair-Goers

Although she won’t be able to see it on Twitter for another day, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Iowa State Fair-goers will be greeted this week by a billboard tying the congresswoman to two of Iowa’s own Republican members of the US House. Democrats hope Iowans will connect the far-right conspiracy theorist, recently blocked from Twitter for a week after tweeting falsely that COVID-19 vaccines don’t work, with first-term Reps. Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

The Democratic Congressional Committee put up a billboard ad today near the I-80/I-35 interchange, ahead of Greene coming to Iowa tomorrow. It reads “They’re hiding the truth about the January 6th Capitol attack,” with a photo of Greene next to ones of Hinson and Miller-Meeks.

Greene’s planned Wednesday visit to the state fair—long a stomping ground for presidential hopefuls—has raised questions over whether she’s considering a national run. It’s also just as likely an attempt to bring even more attention to herself. Democrats have held her up as an example of the Republican Party’s embrace of online conspiracy theorists and extremists in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s reelection defeat.

She will also hold a rally with fellow Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for sex trafficking of an underage minor, in Des Moines on Thursday.

“Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks have made clear their allegiances are with far-right extremists who attacked our democracy and conspiracy theorists like Marjorie Taylor Greene—and not Iowans,” said DCCC spokesperson Elena Kuhn. “Hinson and Miller-Meeks must explain to Iowa fairgoers why they wouldn’t stand up for our democracy when given the chance.”

The Democrats’ focus is on Hinson and Miller-Meeks’ June vote against a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Earlier in the year, Miller-Meeks did back a commission on the matter while Hinson opposed it, but both joined the opposition in June. But there are other ways the two have failed to hold Greene accountable or have mimicked her actions in the past.

Miller-Meeks is among a small group of Republicans, including Greene, who have been fined for refusing to wear masks on the House floors.

Early this year, much like Iowa’s Steve King before her, the Georgia congresswoman was stripped of her committee assignments in February due to racist and anti-Semitic comments.

Hinson at the time said she disagreed with Greene’s past statements, but she refused to assign real consequences to them—both Hinson and Miller-Meeks voted against the effort to remove Greene from her House committees. For Hinson, her reasoning was that the Greene comments in question were made before she entered Congress.

My full statement on today's vote⬇️ pic.twitter.com/u5Wu2FD0mB

— Ashley Hinson (@RepAshleyHinson) February 5, 2021

“If Congresswoman Greene makes any form of hateful statement while serving in this body moving forward, I will call on my party’s leadership to hold her accountable,” Hinson said in a statement on Feb. 4.

In the time since, Greene has continued to promote conspiracy theories around COVID-19 and the presidential election. Hinson has not followed up on her statement.

by Pat Rynard
Posted 8/16/21