Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene was once ridiculed over Twitter on Wednesday after claiming that an fundamental college in Illinois had won over $5 billion in COVID-19 federal reduction investment for use towards important race principle curriculum.
Greene made her observation throughout the Space Oversight and Responsibility Committee’s first listening to of the brand new congressional time period, which enthusiastic about instances when pandemic-related federal help was once allegedly used for waste or fraudulent spending.
Greene particularly spent her portion of the listening to directing inquiries to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller normal of the U.S. and head of the U.S. Govt Responsibility Place of business (GAO).
In step with the Georgia Republican, tens of millions of greenbacks of “COVID money” was once misused by means of native governments and systems around the nation for projects that didn’t cope with a very powerful problems to hand throughout the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
All over her questions about Wednesday, Greene particularly requested Dodaro about instances federal investment can have been used for abortion products and services at Deliberate Parenthood Federation of The usa or put towards drag queen tale hours.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Photographs
In a clip shared on Twitter by means of the consumer @Acyn, Greene particularly requested Dodaro if he may inform the committee how a lot federal investment was once allotted for important race principle, an educational and felony framework that holds that racism is embedded in The usa’s felony machine and establishments.
“I have no idea that,” Dodaro replied. “However I know there may be provisions that the federal budget in most cases don’t seem to be used…meant for use for curriculum.”
“Oh Mr. Dodaro, I’ve to let you know in Illinois, that they won $5.1 billion at an fundamental college there that used it for fairness and variety,” Greene tells the comptroller. “So it is getting used for this stuff.”
Greene: Are you able to inform me how much cash went to CRT?
Dodaro: CRT?
Greene: It’s a racist curriculum used to show youngsters that come what may their white pores and skin now not equivalent 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 relaxation investment were allotted to only one college district, together with Maryland legal professional Tom Coale, who joked, “If a college won $5.1 billion for fairness coaching, the have an effect on could be so massive even MTG could be rather less racist.”
Former Democratic congressional candidate Shannon Freshour, who challenged Ohio Consultant Jim Jordan within the 2020 normal election, tweeted based on Greene’s observation, “Did she simply insanely lie that one fundamental college in IL were given $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 appearing us that you’ll’t make these items up… and but she does, on a regular basis.”
“5.1 Billion didn’t pass to an fundamental college however she has obviously spent that a lot on steroids, bleach and tanner,” Grahn added.
A couple of Republicans got here to Greene’s help, alternatively, together with former Illinois congressional candidate Jack Lombardi, who seconded Greene’s declare in regards to the quantity of federal pandemic help that was once despatched to Illinois.
“We DID obtain $5.1 BILLION federal cash, of which a significant portion was once pumped into CRT & fairness systems,” Lombardi tweeted Wednesday. “I imagine @mtgreenee misspoke. Then again, her general level was once how Federal cash was once used.”
Former Iowa congressional candidate Steve Reeder additionally supported Greene, writing based on a consumer who ridiculed her observation that the congresswoman “was once regarding the United States Dept of Training approving $5.1 Billion to the State of Illinois.”
“Possibly she was once now not as articulate in this one observation as Biden is at all times however you knew what she was once regarding,” Reeder added. “And it was once to push CRT which creates not anything greater than department.”
When requested for remark, Greene’s communications director, Nick Dyer, clarified to Newsweek that the congresswoman had misspoken and that she was once regarding “all the Illinois fundamental and secondary college machine.”
Dyer additionally directed Newsweek to an April 2022 file from Fox Information that says that Democratic-led states comparable to Illinois had been the use of COVID reduction investment “to push core tenets of important race principle in public faculties.”
Extra particularly, the file discovered that $5.1 billion in investment were awarded to the Illinois Board of Training “for its reopening plan that carried out methods with ‘an emphasis on fairness and variety.'”
In step with a file from the Illinois Coverage Institute, just about $7.9 billion in federal pandemic reduction systems was once allotted to Illinois college districts, and kind of 10 p.c of the budget had been directed towards speedy wishes known by means of the Illinois State Board of Training, which incorporated digital training for brand spanking new lecturers and get right of entry to to studying thru laptops for college kids.
It’s also unclear how a lot of the $4.6 trillion in federal pandemic reduction was once spent fraudulently, however as CBS Information reported Wednesday, over 1,000 folks have pleaded accountable or been convicted of defrauding COVID-19 reduction systems.
CBS Information added that the GAO estimated in December that over $60 billion of unemployment insurance coverage bills were fraudulently claimed throughout the pandemic.
Newsweek reached out to Greene’s workplace for remark.
