Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as Donald Trump listens at a rally in Dalton, Georgia, Jan. 4, 2021 (Brynn Anderson/AP)
Twitter permanently suspends the personal account of Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Coronavirus denier and far-right supporter of the conspiracy movement QAnon, over her misinformation about the pandemic.
On Sunday, Greene posted a falsehood about “extremely high amounts of Covid vaccine deaths”. Hours later, Twitter announced its decision.
Greene was suspended for 12 hours last July after she declared that Coronavirus was “not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65″. The suspension was extended to a week in August when she lied that vaccines were “failing”.
Greene’s official Congressional account is still live, as it has not posted the Coronavirus misinformation. The last tweet, on December 24, was a video wishing the representative’s supporters Merry Christmas.
Twitter has implemented a “strike” system for violations of a policy barring accounts from sharing content that is “demonstrably false or misleading and may lead to significant risk of harm”. Five strikes can lead to a permanent suspension.
Last week the platform suspended Dr. Robert Malone, an American virologist and immunologist involved in research on mRNA technology in the 1980s. With his high-profile misinformation about vaccines, he has become an icon for the anti-vaccination movement.
Donald Trump was permanently suspended in January 2020, days after his supporters invaded the US Capitol, attacked police officers, and threatened to kill Vice President Mike Pence and legislators. Twitter said Trump’s posts were an incitement to violence.
Greene responded on Sunday that Twitter “is an enemy to America and can’t handle the truth. That’s fine, I’ll show America we don’t need them”. She circulated the message on the site Gettr, run by Donald Trump’s advisor Jason Miller.
The representative was elected in November 2020 in Georgia’s conservative 14th Congressional District, following her prominence on social media with invective and conspiracy theories. She has continued the tactics in Washington, threatening colleagues such as Democratic Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar and warning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she might be executed.
Congressional leaders in both parties condemned her last spring for comparing Coronavirus mask policies to the Nazi requirement for Jews to wear Star of David badges. While escaping censure, she was removed from House committees.
Greene was also criticized for her endorsement of QAnon; her claim that mass shootings, including the February 2018 killing of 17 staff and students at a Florida high school, were “fake”; her assertion that a plane never hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001; her explanation that a “Jewish space laser” caused California wildfires; and her recycling of the QAnon line that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced with a body double.
Despite the reprimand, Greene has continued to assail pandemic measures and refuses to wear a mask on the House floor.
Illinois breakthrough deaths, hospitalizations double in past two months : https://newschannel20.com/news/local/illinois-breakthrough-deaths-hospitalizations-have-doubled-in-the-past-two-months
“On November 3, IDPH announced nearly 3,000 breakthrough hospitalizations and almost 900 breakthrough deaths.This week, they announced around 6,000 breakthrough hospitalizations and nearly 2,000 breakthrough deaths.”
New breakthrough cases/deaths in MA: https://whdh.com/news/mass-dph-reports-more-than-82k-new-breakthrough-covid-19-cases-112-additional-deaths-among-vaccinated-residents/
“The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 82,466 new breakthrough COVID-19 cases and 112 additional deaths among fully vaccinated residents. As of Jan. 9, there have been 262,060 total breakthrough cases, up from the 179,594 cases that were reported last week, new data shows. There have also been 1,054 fully vaccinated residents who have died from COVID-19, up from the 942 deaths that were reported last week.”
Israel´s daily infections surge past 10,000, amid fifth wave: https://www.plenglish.com/news/2022/01/04/israels-daily-infections-surge-past-10000-amid-fifth-wave/
Significantly, as in other countries, the spike in Omicron infections has been matched by a similar rise in deaths. In Israel’s case, there has been no increase at all in daily deaths.
It will rise since there is a delay between being infected and dying. The number of hospitalizations is up by a third.
Again, the important causal factor is the state of vaccination (or lack of it) even as initial findings are that Omicron’s mortality rate is lower than that of Alpha or Delta….
NY COVID Hospitalizations Top 2021 Surge Levels; Omicron Quintuples Risk of Breakthrough Cases: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/ny-covid-hospitalizations-top-2021-surge-levels-as-omicron-drives-95-of-cases/3476250/
More than 9,000 New Yorkers are now hospitalized with COVID-19, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday, surpassing the levels of January 2021’s peak surge and reaching levels not seen since May 2020 as omicron’s infectiousness continues to envelop the Empire State at a rapid pace.
20,247 New Breakthrough Cases in Mass., 70 More Deaths in Vaccinated People : https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/20247-new-breakthrough-cases-in-mass-70-more-deaths-in-vaccinated-people/2600575/
Pfizer antiviral pills may be risky with other medications: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/pfizer-covid-pills-covid-symptoms-may-risky-drugs-rcna9683
Covid vaccines fail to prevent tranmission: https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2021/12/31/where-is-the-covid-vaccine-that-prevents-transmission/
“If the Covid-19 pandemic is ever going to be defeated, the world needs to unite behind funding a vaccine that will ultimately kill off the virus, leading scientists told The National…A dose that makes Covid non-transmissible – like the polio or smallpox vaccines – is still uncertain, with scientists fearing that the virus might never be countered.”
Expert predicts 5th Covid wave will infect most of Israel: https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/1641140626-expert-predicts-5th-covid-wave-will-infect-most-of-israel
It comes as the number of Covid deaths in Iran is the lowest since March, 2020:https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2022/01/03/2637671/iran-marks-lowest-daily-covid-deaths-in-667-days