Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene found herself at the center of social media mockery after a noticeable stumble over the word "indictable" during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.
The Georgia congresswoman was articulating her stance on the potential impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border crisis when the linguistic slip occurred.
"This historical evidence is overwhelming that the Founding Fathers intended impeachment to be used to deal with the commission of 'in-d----table' crimes and the abuse of power," Greene stated, inadvertently sparking an online firestorm.
The incident swiftly caught the attention of X users, formerly known as Twitter, where numerous commenters expressed astonishment and derision at a U.S. congresswoman's apparent difficulty with a common legal term.
Critiques ranged from questioning Greene's intellectual acumen to more humorous comparisons involving inanimate objects. "Marge Greene is an example of our lowest common denominator," one user remarked, encapsulating the prevailing sentiment among critics.
The committee's discussions centered around accusations against Mayorkas, who was charged with a "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" by allegedly permitting migrants awaiting legal proceedings to be released.
Furthermore, he was accused of breaching public trust by asserting the security of the U.S.-Mexico border, claims that were laid out in the impeachment documents presented during the session.
Despite the Democratic opposition, the committee proceeded to vote in favor of impeaching Mayorkas, setting the stage for the articles of impeachment to be deliberated in the House of Representatives. In response to the allegations and the ensuing controversy, Mayorkas penned a letter rebuffing Greene's claims, asserting that such accusations did not deter him from his commitment to law enforcement and public service.
This is not Greene's initial endeavor to impeach Mayorkas; a similar motion was proposed in November, predicated on the allegation of his failure to secure the U.S. border with Mexico. However, that attempt was thwarted when the House voted against proceeding with the impeachment bid.
The episode has reignited discussions about the qualifications and conduct expected of elected officials, with some observers suggesting that the ability to accurately articulate legal terms is a fundamental requirement for those engaging in legislative debates on such serious matters as impeachment.
