GOP firebrand claims JFK’s assassination linked to his opposition to Israeli atomic program
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to suggest a link between Israel and the assassination of former president John F. Kennedy on Tuesday, before asking whether President Donald Trump should now fear for his life after he “rebuked Israel.”
Greene, a firebrand Republican from Georgia, floated the theory at the end of a tirade against Mark Levin, a Jewish conservative Fox News host who called her “stupid” for opposing the recent US attack on Iran. After criticizing Levin and saying he should meet Jesus, she suggested, without evidence, there was a connection between Kennedy’s assassination and his opposition to Israel’s nuclear program.
She did not name Kennedy, but he was the only president killed since Israel’s founding.
“There was once a great president that the American people loved,” she wrote. “He opposed Israel’s nuclear program. And then he was assassinated.”
Israel maintains an official policy of ambiguity around whether it has nuclear weapons, though foreign reports have estimated it possesses dozens of warheads. There is no evidence of any connection between Israel and the 1963 Kennedy assassination, a popular font of conspiracy theories.
Greene then asked whether she and Trump should also fear for their lives after the US president “rebuked Israel.” Trump castigated Israel on Tuesday morning for bombing Iran after he had announced a ceasefire between the two countries, then thanked Israel for scaling back its attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also thanked Trump for his support on Tuesday.
“I oppose war including wars Israel wages,” Greene wrote. “Should I feel that my life is in danger now too? What about President Trump who strongly rebuked Israel this morning for continuing to attack Iran?”
US President John F. Kennedy waves from his car in a motorcade approximately one minute before he was shot, in Dallas, November 22, 1963. Riding with President Kennedy are first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, right, Nellie Connally, second from left, and her husband, Texas Gov. John Connally, far left. (Jim Altgens/AP)
Greene, who was elected to the US Congress in 2020, has previously promoted multiple conspiracy theories, including, in 2018, that space lasers linked to the Rothschilds, a prominent Jewish banking family, were responsible for a California fire. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The spat between Levin and Greene is one high-profile example of fissures in Trump’s base over the Iran attack. While polling shows that most Republicans approved of the attack, a number of prominent figures in Trump’s “MAGA” camp have come out against it, notable among them Greene, Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon and fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
On Sunday, Greene wrote on X, “I can easily say I support nuclear armed Israel’s right to defend themselves and also say at the same time I don’t want to fight or fund nuclear armed Israel’s wars.”
The following day, Levin posted, “MTG, God are you stupid.” After praising the US strikes on Iran, he added, “I’m not going away. You’re on my radar.”
Mark Levin speaks, with US President Donald Trump behind him, in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 8, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
That prompted the rejoinder from Greene, who called Levin’s post “extremely sick and disturbing.” She proceeded to recommend that Levin become acquainted with Jesus.
“Let me introduce you to my friend Jesus,” she wrote, adding later, “Jesus will return one day and the those that did not recognize him will mourn.”
