Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Defends Anti-Vax Kyrie Irving And People ‘Just Can’t’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) chimed in on NBA star Kyrie Irving’s benching by the Brooklyn Nets for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and was labeled a “f**king monster” on Twitter for her offensive hot take.
Greene first wrongly blamed “the fascist NBA” for banning Irving, even though it was his own team that benched him because of New York City rules requiring professional athletes to be vaccinated.
The conspiracy theory-endorsing lawmaker then attempted to draw a false comparison with NBA legend Magic Johnson’s HIV diagnosis:
The fascist NBA won’t let Kyrie Irving play for refusing a vaccine.
But yet they still let Magic Johnson play with HIV.— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) October 14, 2021
Greene was called out for spreading misinformation about the different ways HIV and the coronavirus are transmitted, just as a Florida GOP candidate for Congress, Lavern Spicer, was blasted when she posted a similar message Tuesday.
I haven't heard a comment this ignorant about HIV/AIDS since the bad old days of the 80s epidemic when evangelists were calling it God's punishment on homosexual men and when rampant politicized misinformation led to stigmatization of people with the illness. You fucking monster. https://t.co/MI6Ulx1ZPI
— Jared Petty (@pettycommajared) October 15, 2021
Um, it’s not the NBA not letting play.
And HIV is not a…never mind. https://t.co/78pDwvAVVM— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) October 14, 2021
There’s some transmission differences and issues you might want to take into account there, Slick. https://t.co/PY7QHW2oVD
— Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) October 14, 2021
Another great take by the Jewish Space laser lady. How is this person a member of Congress? https://t.co/No7pAuv0aS
— David Weissman (@davidmweissman) October 15, 2021
Hell no, you don't get to do this.
HIV is not airborn. It is far harder to catch than coronavirus.
This is an insult to both the more than 700,000 Americans who have died of HIV in the past 40 years and the more than 700,000 Americans who died of COVID in the last 18 months— Skylar Baker-Jordan (@SkylarJordan) October 14, 2021
Why is America suffering from such idiocy? Why?
— A-Aron GOP Survivor Sarcasm, Inc. (@zoostationaz) October 14, 2021
Who's gonna tell Marge how HIV is typically spread?
— Scapper 💙 (@realscapper) October 14, 2021
NYC has COVID RULES. Kyrie made a choice to not get vaccinated, violating the NYC covid rules.
Magic RETIRED as soon as he learned he was HIV+.
Good grief an AIRBORNE virus is NOT the same as a virus that is transmitted via infected body fluids.— tellthetruth (@9_tellthetruth) October 14, 2021
HIV is not spread by respiratory droplets.
Have a blessed day, superstar.— Jean L.P. Jaurès 🌎🔬📚⚖️ (@pitgpitw1) October 14, 2021
I just can’t with this tweet.
Seriously.
🤦♂️— Artie Vandelay (@ArtieVandelay1) October 14, 2021
The NBA is not keeping Irving from playing. The city of NY mandated vaccines for people working indoors. Irving is not vaccinated so he can’t play home games. The Nets decided not to play him half the time. Shocked MTG didn’t understand that. She always seems so well informed.
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) October 14, 2021
I spend workaday hours with these folks.
I’m here to tell you that this kind of stuff is a feature, not a bug. https://t.co/QmNAe0B0kf— Jim Himes (@jahimes) October 14, 2021
There is no way this is real life? We’re all screwed. This is a whole new level of stupid. https://t.co/MMxZc775En
— Scotty Kay 💉 (@ScottyKOnair) October 15, 2021
Tell me you had no idea who Magic Johnson was yesterday without telling me you had no idea who Magic Johnson was yesterday. https://t.co/CO9Xlqg5vs
— A Phizer A (@Aqua174) October 15, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
