Republican congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday posted on her candidate Facebook page an image of herself holding a gun alongside images of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib and encouraged going on the “offense against these socialists.” “We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart,” her post’s caption read. As of midday Friday, Facebook removed the photo, saying it violated the social network’s policies. The Georgia Republican, who has the support of President Donald Trump, has previously embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and has a history of Islamophobic and bigoted remarks on social media. Greene is poised to be elected to Congress this fall after winning the Republican primary in a solidly Republican Georgia district. Earlier Friday, Omar, who along with Tlaib is Muslim, said Greene’s now-deleted photo was “incitement” and demanded Facebook remove the “violent provocation.” “Posting a photo with an assault rifle next to the faces of three women of color is not advertising. It’s incitement,” the Minnesota Democrat posted on Twitter. “There are already death threats in response to this post. Facebook should remove this violent provocation.” Greene’s campaign told CNN in an emailed statement that those who think the picture incites violence “are paranoid and ridiculous.” CNN reached out to the campaign Friday afternoon after Facebook removed the image. Greene, who’s running to represent Georgia’s 14th congressional district, has railed against the three progressive Democratic congresswomen, who along with Rep. Ayanna Pressley call themselves the “Squad.” “Hate America leftists want to take this country down,” Greene wrote in her Facebook post, which was her second one targeting the congresswomen in recent days. “Politicians have failed this country. I’m tired of seeing weak, Establishment Republicans play defense. Our country is on the line. America needs fighters who speak the truth.” Last year, the four Democratic congresswomen – Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib – were the target of a controversial North Carolina billboard for a gun store. The sign faced backlash for being seen as inciting violence and was removed. Politico reported that Greene previously wrote on social media that Muslims do not belong in government and that there is “an Islamic invasion into our government offices,” among other incendiary remarks. CNN’s KFile reported that Greene wrote two conspiracy-laden blog posts speculating that the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that led to one counter-protester’s death was an “inside job” and promoting the debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that alleges some Democratic leaders are running a human-trafficking and pedophilia ring as real. Greene told Fox News last month following her primary win that while she once read and discussed QAnon topics, she has decided to “choose another path” after encountering “misinformation.” This story has been updated to reflect Facebook has taken down the photo.
