Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Won Debate With Rival Marcus Flowers

Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she won the debate with her Democratic rival Marcus Flowers on Sunday night.

The congresswoman, commonly known by her initials MTG, faced off against Flowers during the event, which was filmed and live-streamed by Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Overnight, she took to social media to declare that she beat her opponent, although Flowers suggested he had won. The pair are battling it out in Georgia to win the congressional seat for District 14 in next month's midterms.

A photograph of Greene raising her arm triumphantly, which she uploaded to her Telegram social media channel, is captioned with the words: "MTG wins debate. Defeats Democrat opposition."

Posting the image, she also appealed for more donations to her campaign.

But Flowers, a veteran who has worked in the State Department, tweeted: "I just got off the debate stage with Marjorie Taylor Greene and it's clear that our message is winning and she is rattled."

He also appealed for donations, adding: "Help us win this on November 8th. Chip in now!"

The bad-tempered debate saw a number of flash points. One of the most contentious was when Flowers questioned Greene about her previous claims that President Joe Biden had "stolen" the election from Donald Trump. She had encouraged people to protest, and demonstrators later went on to storm the Capitol in deadly riots on January 6 last year. Greene later allegedly requested a presidential pardon.

But during the debate, she claimed to be "a victim of the January 6 riot as much as any other member of Congress."

Flowers asked Greene: "Did Joe Biden win the election, Congresswoman Greene?"

"Joe Biden is the president of the United States, Marcus," she replied.

"Absolutely—but you pushed a big lie that said he did not win the election and you drove those people to the Capitol on January 6," he said.

She interrupted him to claim: "There was election fraud in the 2020 election and my husband has the proof of it."

As the anchor, Karyn Greer, tried to move the debate along to the next question, Greene continued talking, claiming she had "evidence of proof of election fraud."

The host again tried to remonstrate with her to ask the next question, and Greene said: "Ok, but he's not going to accuse me of a crime when I have not committed one."

When asked if she would like her next question, she replied, "Yes ma'am, I would," but then turned to Flowers and snapped, "You're a liar, by the way."

Greene has previously claimed that when her husband, a businessman who is divorcing her, went to vote in the 2020 election, an official told him his vote had already been cast via absentee ballot.

On Sunday she tweeted: "Voter fraud is real. Our family knows first hand. In the 2020 general election, Perry was told when he went to vote in person that the SOS [Secretary of State records] showed that he already voted by absentee. He did not, and never even requested an absentee ballot in 2020… This happened to many other Georgia voters."

Flowers accused Greene of caring more about the "criminals in jail" for their role in January 6, than the people in her own district. But she said she was simply fighting against a hypocritical "two-tiered justice system."

While Flowers concentrated on Greene's controversial support for the aims of the rioters, and the fact she has not pushed through any legislation, she focused on the fact he often wears a cowboy hat even though he "doesn't own one head of cattle."

She referred to his headgear twice to mock it during the 30-minute debate, in which she also described Democrats as "the party of child abuse" over their stance on transgender children.

She also turned on one of the journalists who asked her a question by apparently accusing the media of being equivalent to "Democrat activists."

Reporter Josh Roe said: "You were kicked off of your committees for saying things that were controversial, you've apologized for controversial statements, right? ...What is your process for fact-checking and vetting the things that you say in public?"

She replied: "The things I say in public are the truth and that's why they're so offensive to Democrat activists and the media, just like you."

Flowers told Newsweek: "Our goal in the debate was to show how high the stakes are in this election and that Georgians have a choice this election not just between Republican and Democrat, but right vs. wrong, and stability vs. chaos.

"We did just that as Representative Greene could not name even a single accomplishment from her time in office; offered no plans to improve the lives of her constituents; then defended and lied about her participation in the January 6th insurrection and her support for those who attacked our Capitol. All of that while she angrily attacked me and even the journalists on the panel. I laid out everything I have learned from our constituents, their needs, my priorities for improving their lives, and how I will represent them with honor, integrity, and decency."

He added: "As far as who 'won' the debate, I'm not a pundit—but you can watch the debate and see who presented answers with respect to the voters on that stage and who didn't. We presented our case to the voters and I'm excited for them to vote."

Newsweek has also reached out to Greene for comment.

It's unclear whether the debate has swayed any voters to the other side, with supporters tweeting both candidates to congratulate them on their respective performances.

However, Greene has been tipped to win in the staunchly Republican district, which has been held by the party for almost 30 years.