Afrigather Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene was ridiculed over Twitter on Wednesday after claiming that an elementary faculty in Illinois had acquired over $5 billion in COVID-19 federal reduction funding for use towards vital race concept curriculum.
Greene made her assertion through the Home Oversight and Accountability Committee’s first listening to of the brand new congressional time period, which targeted on occasions when pandemic-related federal help was allegedly used for waste or fraudulent spending.
Greene particularly spent her portion of the listening to directing inquiries to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller common of the U.S. and head of the U.S. Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO).
In keeping with the Georgia Republican, tens of millions of {dollars} of “COVID money” was misused by native governments and applications throughout the nation for initiatives that didn’t handle an important points at hand through the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Throughout her questions on Wednesday, Greene particularly requested Dodaro about occasions federal funding could have been used for abortion providers at Planned Parenthood Federation of America or put towards drag queen story hours.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Pictures
In a clip shared on Twitter by the consumer @Acyn, Greene particularly requested Dodaro if he may inform the committee how a lot federal funding was allotted for critical race theory, an educational and authorized framework that holds that racism is embedded in America’s authorized system and establishments.
“I have no idea that,” Dodaro answered. “However I do know there’s provisions that the federal funds usually will not be used…supposed for use for curriculum.”
“Oh Mr. Dodaro, I’ve to let you know in Illinois, that they acquired $5.1 billion at an elementary faculty there that used it for fairness and variety,” Greene tells the comptroller. “So it is getting used for these items.”
Greene: Are you able to inform me how a lot cash went to CRT?
Dodaro: CRT?
Greene: It’s a racist curriculum used to show youngsters that one way or the other their white pores and skin not equal to black pores and skin and different issues pic.twitter.com/ssFZE7Gxlz— Acyn (@Acyn) February 1, 2023
Twitter customers mocked Greene for insinuating that $5.1 billion of the reduction funding had been allotted to only one faculty district, together with Maryland legal professional Tom Coale, who joked, “If a faculty acquired $5.1 billion for fairness coaching, the affect can be so giant even MTG can be rather less racist.”
Former Democratic congressional candidate Shannon Freshour, who challenged Ohio Consultant Jim Jordan within the 2020 common election, tweeted in response to Greene’s assertion, “Did she simply insanely lie that one elementary faculty in IL bought $5.1 BILLION (w/a ‘B’) to make use of for CRT?”
Actress Nancy Lee Grahn additionally reposted the video of Greene’s declare, writing in her caption, “#MarjorieTaylorGreene as soon as once more displaying us that you would be able to’t make these things up… and but she does, on a regular basis.”
“5.1 Billion didn’t go to an elementary faculty however she has clearly spent that a lot on steroids, bleach and tanner,” Grahn added.
A couple of Republicans got here to Greene’s help, nevertheless, together with former Illinois congressional candidate Jack Lombardi, who seconded Greene’s declare in regards to the quantity of federal pandemic help that was despatched to Illinois.
“We DID obtain $5.1 BILLION federal cash, of which a great portion was pumped into CRT & fairness applications,” Lombardi tweeted Wednesday. “I imagine @mtgreenee misspoke. Nonetheless, her total level was how Federal cash was used.”
Former Iowa congressional candidate Steve Reeder additionally supported Greene, writing in response to a consumer who ridiculed her assertion that the congresswoman “was referring to the US Dept of Training approving $5.1 Billion to the State of Illinois.”
“Perhaps she was not as articulate on this one assertion as Biden is on a regular basis however you knew what she was referring to,” Reeder added. “And it was to push CRT which creates nothing greater than division.”
When requested for remark, Greene’s communications director, Nick Dyer, clarified to Newsweek that the congresswoman had misspoken and that she was referring to “your entire Illinois elementary and secondary faculty system.”
Dyer additionally directed Newsweek to an April 2022 report from Fox News that claims that Democratic-led states similar to Illinois had been utilizing COVID reduction funding “to push core tenets of vital race concept in public colleges.”
Extra particularly, the report discovered that $5.1 billion in funding had been awarded to the Illinois Board of Training “for its reopening plan that applied methods with ‘an emphasis on fairness and variety.'”
In keeping with a report from the Illinois Coverage Institute, almost $7.9 billion in federal pandemic reduction applications was allotted to Illinois faculty districts, and roughly 10 % of the funds had been directed towards instant wants recognized by the Illinois State Board of Training, which included digital teaching for brand spanking new lecturers and entry to studying by laptops for college kids.
Additionally it is unclear how a lot of the $4.6 trillion in federal pandemic reduction was spent fraudulently, however as CBS Information reported Wednesday, over 1,000 people have pleaded responsible or been convicted of defrauding COVID-19 reduction applications.
CBS Information added that the GAO estimated in December that over $60 billion of unemployment insurance coverage funds had been fraudulently claimed through the pandemic.
Newsweek reached out to Greene’s workplace for remark.
