Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has incited violence against his family after he received a racist and homophobic death which mentioned a conspiracy theory she repeated about him.
In a June 22 tweet, Swalwell wrote that while giving a tour inside of the Capitol, a child’s father yelled his name and then told his child with him, “That’s Swalwell. He’s trouble. He doesn’t back Trump.”
Related: Marjorie Taylor Greene rails that DOJ won’t prosecute people who put stickers on her anti-trans sign
Swalwell wrote, “I kept walking and felt sad for the boy. He’s being raised in a cult family.”
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In response to Swalwell’s tweet about the incident, Greene responded, “No way that happened. Because we all know good Trump supporting fathers would say, ‘that’s the Democrat who had sex with a Chinese spy.'”
Greene’s response pushed an unsubstantiated rumor about Swalwell’s alleged relationship with Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who associated with the congressman in 2014 and 2015. While Swalwell’s critics have accused him of being compromised by Fang and the Chinese government, Swalwell has said that he cut off ties with Fang once the FBI warned him about her in 2015. He has denied that the two had sex.
Nevertheless, allegations of their sexual relations have been oft-repeated by Republicans and right-wing media figures, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
In response to Greene’s comment, Swalwell wrote via Twitter, “Marjorie loves to play the victim. But she’s an inciter of violence. Her constant attacks — even after the FBI said I was never suspected of wrongdoing — lead to threatening calls like this. This caller from today threatened to kill my three children.”
His tweet included the audio from a threatening voicemail he received.
The caller said, “Hey, you little c***sucker. You still banging the Chinese spy Fang Fang and stinking up the f**king Capitol with your farts, you little c***sucker? We’re coming to your house this weekend. Gon’ get you and them little mutant bastards, them little mutant offspring of yours. We’re gon’ get ya.”
Have a LISTEN 🔊
Marjorie loves to play the victim. But she’s an inciter of violence. Her constant attacks — even after the FBI said I was never suspected of wrongdoing — lead to threatening calls like this. This caller from today threatened to kill my three children. https://t.co/MlR1ogAxN3 pic.twitter.com/xVWosh1Uco
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 23, 2022
This isn’t the first time that Greene has been accused of inciting violent threats against a Democratic Congress member.
In a September 2020 Facebook post, she shared an image of herself holding a gun next to a picture of the four Democratic congresswomen of color, who then made up the House’s progressive group known as “the Squad.”
Facebook removed Greene’s post for violating its policy against violent threats after “Squad” member Ilhan Omar of Minnesota tweeted, “Posting a photo with an assault rifle next to the faces of three women of color is not advertising. It’s incitement. There are already death threats in response to this post.”
