Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attack on “too old” Democrat sparks backlash

Marjorie Taylor Greene came under fire on social media when she hit out at Democratic Representative Maxine Waters, after the 85-year-old criticized her for having a government Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan written off during the coronavirus pandemic.

Taylor Commercial Inc., the company Greene owned with her then-husband, received a $183,504 PPP loan write-off in April 2020, according to publicly available records. This consisted of the original $182,300 loan, plus the interest that had been accrued. PPP loans were introduced during the Donald Trump administration in 2020 to support small businesses during the pandemic, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

After being criticized over the loan forgiveness by Waters, Greene replied in a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter: “Maxine Waters is attacking me for taking a PPP loan (like so many had to), before I was a member of congress, when the tyrannical government shut us all down. Maxine is 85 yrs old and has held government office since 1976!!!

“She has no idea what it’s like to meet payroll and keep a business running. Maxine is everything wrong with politicians today. Too old. No real life experience. Corrupt and tyrannical. Is she going to cling to power until she dies like so many of her peers?” Greene added.

The post went viral, receiving more than 6,600 shares, 1.3 million views and garnering 8,500 comments. Newsweek has contacted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for comment by telephone and voicemail message.

However, many of the replies took issue with Greene’s stance. Several X users wrote that she would go on to oppose the Biden administration’s student-debt relief proposal, which was blocked by the Supreme Court in June.

Ryan Shead, an X user from Tucson, Arizona, with over 84,000 followers, replied: “She is attacking your hypocrisy in taking the loan and chastising the government you just allowed to save your sorry a**.

“If you were a woman of principles you wouldn’t have taken the massive loan from the tyrannical government,” Shead added. “The American people would have received zero help from you, but you took it for yourself. That’s why we criticize you.”

A second Twitter user, ChrisfromCali added: “And she voted against loan forgiveness for students. Her hypocrisy makes me so sick.”

A third wrote: “But young people struggling to pay rent and buy food can’t get $10,000 in student loan relief?”

Ron Fancy, an X user from California, commented: “She comes after frauds like you. Did she ask for a pardon? Did she plan an insurrection? She has been around for a long time b/c [because] she does an excellent job. When Kev[in McCarthy, former speaker] lost his job you lost your leverage.”

However, not all social-media users disagreed with Greene’s post. Rhonda Lynn replied: “Maxine Waters is so corrupt and vile. She is a disgrace to Congress and everyone despises her. She is one of the nastiest people I’ve ever seen.”

A second user added: “I believe that Maxine Waters, due to her age and alleged corrupt practices, is out of touch with the current political landscape. I argue that she should be removed from office ASAP [as soon as possible].”

During an appearance on Tucker Carson’s X show, released on Thursday, Greene named five “powerful Republicans in the House” whom she said have been undermining her in the House, and in particular her efforts to impeach prominent Biden administration figures.