Marjorie Taylor Greene compares Ukraine’s forces to “Nazi army”

Marjorie Taylor Greene has sparked controversy by accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, of having a “Nazi army.”

The House Republican made the comment via Twitter on Thursday, in response to Zelensky holding a meeting with Greta Thunberg and other environmental campaigners in Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by claiming he is trying to “denazify” the country, despite it having a democratically elected government led by a Jewish president. Russian state media has continued to spread the conspiracy theory that Ukraine is secretly colluding with Nazis, despite this claim being roundly rejected by independent experts.

Greene tweeted out a 45-second clip showing Zelensky meeting European campaigners who are setting up an environmental group to investigate the ecological damage caused by Putin’s invasion, including 20-year-old Thunberg.

Greene commented: “Somehow this makes so much sense from the actor wearing army green everyday, fully funded by U.S. warmongers, and who just recently canceled elections, controls his state media, and has a Nazi army.”

Newsweek has contacted Greene for comment via telephone and voicemail message.

Zelensky took to wearing a quasi-military green outfit following the Russian invasion. On June 22 the Ukrainian president indicated to the BBC that the country’s next presidential elections will not go ahead if the war is still ongoing.

Asked whether Ukraine will have elections in 2024 Zelensky replied: “If we win, there will be. So there will be no wartime (martial law), no war. Elections should be held in peacetime, when there is no war, according to the law.”

In response former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson labeled the Ukrainian leader a demagogue, though others pointed out there is a track record of democracies not holding elections when they face an existential threat, such as Britain, which postponed parliamentary elections for most of World War II.

Greene’s comments sparked a mostly negative response from other social media users, with Zorek Richards, a self-described “ex-GOP” supporter from Mississippi, commenting: “I doubt it will ever make sense to you. Zelensky is an elected official who believes in fighting selflessly against tyranny. You on the other hand, support tyranny and fascism. Your kind of people do nothing ‘selflessly.'”

Republicans Against Trump, which describes itself as a group of “pro-democracy conservatives,” wrote: “MTG who gave a keynote speech at a Nazi conference alongside a despicable holocaust denier, spews the Kremlin propaganda that the Jewish president of Ukraine who lost family members in the Holocaust has a ‘Nazi army.’ Marjorie Taylor Greene is a complete POS [piece of s***].”

The account was referring to Greene giving an address in 2022 at the America First Political Action Conference, which was organized by Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.

However, not everyone responded to Greene so negatively.

“Congress must have oversight into the ‘How the money is spent’ in our support of Ukraine. NATO and the EU must match dollar for dollar in donations. We must not carry the entire burden,” Twitter user Mark Pellaton said.

Thunberg accused Russia of “ecocide” following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in occupied southern Ukraine, which Zelensky blamed on “Russian terrorists.”

Moscow denied responsibility for the action, which resulted in a number of Ukrainian towns and cities being flooded.