Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) became the first congressional Republican to label the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip a “genocide” on Monday after President Donald Trump acknowledged that Palestinians are starving.
Greene’s comment came within a larger criticism of a colleague, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who spoke approvingly of the deteriorating situation in Gaza.
“Release the hostages. Until then, starve away,” Fine wrote on social media last week, adding that he considers the increasing evidence of widespread famine in the region to be “a lie.”
Even Trump was moved to say there is “real starvation” occurring in Gaza as a result of Israel’s nearly two-year war in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on civilians that was instigated by fighters from the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who took hostages back to Gaza.
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“But a Jewish U.S. Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful,” she said. “His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism.”
Greene has also fueled antisemitic tropes in the past, most notably in a now-deleted 2018 Facebook post that suggested a link between the wealthy Jewish Rothschild family and wildfires in California — prompting ridicule for what her critics called her “Jewish space lasers” theory.
Her choice of words, however, makes her unique among congressional Republicans.
Trump said during his visit to Scotland on Monday that he had been disturbed by images and reporting he had seen on television of the worsening situation in Gaza.
Israel, which controls entry to Gaza and patrols its coastline, has for months been blocking aid from reaching over 2 million Palestinians there.
Photos of exhausted, skeletal children have begun to surface on front pages around the world. One child reportedly weighed less upon her death than when she was born.
“You can’t fake that,” Trump said of the images.
Like Fine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flat-out denied that Palestinian civilians are starving to death. Israel has for months claimed that Hamas, which controls Gaza, is misusing shipments of food and supplies, although The New York Times reported over the weekend that Israeli officials know there is no evidence to support that assertion.
Asked Monday if he agreed with Netanyahu, Trump responded, “I don’t know.”
“I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly,” he went on.
“Because those children look very hungry.”
