Linda Beigel Schulman, the mother of a victim of 2018’s Parkland school shooting, lambasted Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) after speaking with her this weekend, saying the lawmaker refused to publicly disavow her controversial social media activity supporting claims the attack was a false flag “because lies and conspiracy theories are more important to her than honesty.”
Schulman — whose son, teacher Scott Beigel, was killed in the Parkland attack — made the comments on MSNBC on Sunday, referencing media reports that Greene had agreed with social media exchanges calling the Parkland attack and the Sandy Hook massacre false flags, or staged events. The claims are patently false but have continued to feed conspiracy theory networks for years.
Schulman said she spoke with Greene personally on Saturday, and when pressed about her views, the lawmaker “unequivocally” said she didn’t believe the shootings were false flags or staged. But when Schulman asked Greene to appear on television to share those views, the congresswoman demurred.
“Did I believe Congresswoman Greene when she said Parkland and Sandy Hook were not false flags or staged events? Well, I very much wanted to,” Schulman said on “Weekends with Alex Witt.” She added: “Truth is power, and if Congresswoman Greene believes that Parkland and Sandy Hook were, in fact real events, she would be willing to say that publicly. And her failure tells me that for Congresswoman Greene, politics trumps truth, because lies and conspiracy theories are more important to her than honesty.”
Greene has faced growing criticism for her views and history on social media. The lawmaker, who has expressed support for QAnon and a bevy of other wild conspiracy theories, has rebuffed calls she resign, instead claiming she is being muzzled.
Many of the parents of children killed in the Parkland shooting have called on Greene to resign in recent days. Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter died in the attack, said last week the lawmaker was a “depraved person who ran for Congress on a lie.”
“She has called Parkland a lie, Sandy Hook a lie, Las Vegas a lie and 9/11 a lie,” Guttenberg said on MSNBC. He later referenced a video of Greene harassing David Hogg, a survivor of the attack and gun control advocate, in 2018, just weeks after the shooting. “And when you watch the video of her chasing David [Hogg] and the other kids down ... she’s chasing children, and not only is she harassing them, she’s telling them outright that ‘I have a gun.’”
Hogg himself has called on Greene to be stripped of her committee assignments and for Republican leadership to pull their support should she run for reelection.
Schulman stressed Sunday that Greene should publicly disavow her remarks.
“She has no right to negate Scott’s heroism,” Schulman said. “She has no right to demean Scott’s memory with her conspiracy theories. So I would like Congresswoman Greene, especially after our conversation. to publicly disavow her comments and apologize to those from Parkland and Sandy Hook who she has hurt and devastated with her words.”