Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) stood up for anti-LGBTQ+ extremist Chaya Raichik by calling LGBTQ+ people and allies “groomers, pedophiles, and doctors who get rich cutting of kids body parts.”
Greene was commenting on an NBC News story from last week about how law enforcement officials have tied Raichik’s online activism to bomb threats. Raichik made a name for herself with her “Libs of TikTok” account, where she posts videos by LGBTQ+ people and allies and calls them “groomers” if they mention being out about their identities or talking about LGBTQ+ people in the presence of children. She is also opposed to gender-affirming care for trans youth and has spread misinformation and false stories to advance that agenda.
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The NBC News piece identified 21 instances since November 2020 in which schools or other institutions called out by Libs of TikTok for pushing “woke” ideology subsequently endured bomb threats. An additional 12 institutions targeted by Raichik experienced other forms of what NBC News referred to as “violent intimidation.”
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“Detectives in Iowa are blaming me for b*mb threats,” Raichik whined on X, citing the NBC News article. “They want me in prison for exposing the grooming and sexualization of your kids.”
Instead of siding with law enforcement – or just staying away from this entirely – Greene, a sitting member of Congress, took Raichik’s side and equated kids learning that LGBTQ+ people exist to pedophilia.
“Exposing the groomers, pedophiles, and doctors who get rich cutting of kids body parts makes Chaya a top target of the radical evil left,” Greene wrote. “I stand with Chaya 100% of the time and so do most Americans. NBC or anyone else shouldn’t pick this fight.”
The idea that greedy doctors are railroading children to get gender-affirming surgery – which is almost never practiced on minors in the U.S. – is one of the core beliefs of the anti-transgender right because it allows them to demonize gender-affirming care while absolving parents of any responsibility even though many parents of trans kids support their children. Moreover, it dovetails with their demonization of doctors and the healthcare industry following the COVID-19 pandemic, where many on the right opposed health measures like masks and vaccines (Greene herself has been holding hearings to gin up opposition to the COVID-19 vaccines).
This is far from the first time Raichik has been tied to bomb threats. Last year, USA Today confirmed “dozens” of bomb threats, death threats, and other forms of harassment that followed Raichik’s posts since February 2022, including at least two dozen bomb threats directed at schools and libraries during the summer and fall of 2023 alone. USA Today noted that the research likely undercounts the total number of threats, as some may have gone unreported.
Raichik responded to the article by taking a smiling picture of herself with the newspaper and calling it a “huge achievement.”