‘This Tweet Large Marge Wrote Should Get Her Kicked Out of Congress’

During and after U.S. President Joe Biden’s February 8 2023 State of the Union address, “Large Marge” was a Twitter trend, referencing an outburst by far right conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) at the event.

One of the top tweets visible on the “Large Marge” tab was a February 3 2023 tweet by user @RealJoeBonanno:

Fact Check

Claim: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) tweeted that Republicans “successfully thinned our [herd],” referencing pandemic-related deaths in the party’s ranks.

Description: A claim stating that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) tweeted that Republicans ‘successfully thinned our [herd],’ referencing pandemic-related deaths in the party’s ranks.

Rating: Not True

Rating Explanation: The claim is not true. The quoted tweet was marked as a parody and is not a genuine tweet from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Bonanno’s tweet was a response to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York). In the screenshot of a tweet attributed to Greene, text read:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ????????
@RepMTG

Republicans are the ONLY party who successfully thinned our own heard [sic], getting rid of the weak & unhealthy among us during COVID!

It’s called NATURAL selection, and it’s science, look it up.

7:27 AM Jan 30, 2023 236.2K Parody by Back Rub

Reply tweets directly beneath the screenshot reflected a range of opinions on the authenticity of the tweet:

“Maybe the worst part of this tweet is that before you consider retweeting it, you have to do a little bit of discovery and see if she actually said it. The fact that you even think she could have is telling. She is that bad.”

“I keep thinking I’m too old to be shocked by any utterances, but MTG keeps proving me incorrect.”

“What is sad is that this is so believable. She didn’t say this but it is totally believable that she could have certainly uttered something like this.”

“Yo, it says “parody” at the bottom … Disinformation’s not any better coming from the left. There’s plenty of REAL stuff to criticize her for.

As the fourth reply correctly observed, the word “parody” was visible on the screenshot (along with “by Back Rub.”) On January 30 2023, the Twitter account @FaithRubPol tweeted:

MSNBC legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks shared the image as a retweet, describing the parody as “unbelievable,” yet “believable and that is sad”:

One reply asked if the screenshot was “real,” to which the account responded “satire.” A @FaithRubPol tweet threaded directly under the screenshot added:

To our haters: are you more mad about the roughly 200k unnecessary American deaths or a satire tweet pointing it out?

A satirical @FaithRubPol tweet was the subject of a February 1 2023 fact check about a similar Twitter screenshot attributed to Bob Woodward. A Twitter bio for the account reads:

Trying to understand this crazy world & get a few laughs. Most of our screenshots are parodies.

After “Large Marge” trended on February 7 2023, a screenshot of a tweet circulated that was attributed to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The screenshot suggested Greene said Republicans succeeded in having “thinned our own heard,” but text at the bottom marked it as a parody.