A US Republican politician told former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis to “f*** off” during an interview.
It comes as Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump all but cemented a November rematch in the US presidential election following Super Tuesday.
It means that Trump increased pressure on the former president’s last major rival, Nikki Haley, to leave the Republican race.
Speaking to Maitlis for The News Agents podcast, Marjorie Taylor Greene – who serves in the US House of Representatives – told the presenter “why don’t you just f*** off” after a tense exchange about conspiracy theories.
"Emily, you're a conspiracy theorist... We like the truth."
— The News Agents (@TheNewsAgents) March 6, 2024
Why did Marjorie Taylor Greene tell @maitlis to fuck off? 🤬
Coming to @GlobalPlayer pic.twitter.com/Ye6momF7Jx
Asked what the message to Haley should be, Greene said: “Well, we’ve been encouraging her to drop out and support president Trump.
“And I think tonight is the clear message that president Trump is the clear front runner, he’s the winner in our Republican primary and it’s time for Nikki Haley to drop out and support him.”
Asked further if Trump was close to picking his candidate to serve as vice president and if she should be on the list, Greene replied, “that’s the question everyone asks” and, seemingly misunderstanding the question, added that Haley should not be on the list.
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Maitlis again asked if Greene herself would like to be on the list to which she replied: “He’s got a long list, I support president Trump in any way. Any way he’d ask me but I can assure you it won’t be Nikki Haley.”
The presenter then asked why Trump seemed to attract the support of so many conspiracy theorists, including Greene. Greene is known for embracing “violent, fringe conspiracies”, according to CNN.
She told Maitlis: “Well, let me tell you. You’re a conspiracy theorist and the left and the media spreads more conspiracy theories.
“We like ‘the truth’ and we like supporting our constitution and our freedoms and America first.”
Maitlis then asked Greene to talk about “Jewish space lasers", in reference to a previous conspiracy theory the politician had aligned herself with.
In 2021, Media Matters reported on a now-deleted Facebook post in which she claimed a space laser controlled by an executive at a bank owned by the Rothschild family – a Jewish family – caused a California wildfire.
However, Greene later claimed in her book that there is not an “antisemitic bone” in her body.
In the interview, she added: “Why don’t you go talk about Jewish space lasers and really why don’t you f*** off.”
Maitlis simply replied: “Thanks. Thank you very much.”
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