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Media tries to shame MTG for calling eclipse a sign from God, stays mum about Dem's belief that moon is 'mostly ... gases'
Photo of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by Joe Raedle/Getty Images | Photo of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images
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Media tries to shame MTG for calling eclipse a sign from God, stays mum about Dem's belief that moon is 'mostly ... gases'

Many pundits and mainstream news outlets immediately jeered at Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) for calling Monday's total solar eclipse and other recent phenomena "strong signs" from God, but some of these same pundits and outlets stayed noticeably quiet about strange, eclipse-related comments from one of MTG's Democrat House colleagues.

On Monday, Greene, a professed Christian, wrote on social media that the eclipse many were scrambling to see was a message from God about their sinful behavior. "God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens," Greene wrote along with a prayer emoji.

Greene is hardly the only Christian who noticed a spiritual component to the eclipse. "Eclipses flat out PROVE the existence of God," tweeted author and occasional Blaze News contributor Eric Metaxas. "The evidence is absolutely ASTONISHING!"

"If you are worshipping the eclipse as a celebration of 'Mother Nature' or 'science,' you’re missing the point. It’s a God thing," said Red State columnist Buzz Patterson.

In other words, Greene's comments were well in keeping with mainstream Christian conservative discourse. But that fact did not stop many from making fun of her anyway:

  • "Although God was unavailable for comment (probably because he’s focused on picking winners for the NCAA Tournament), folks on social media offered their own takes on Greene’s tweet," joked a HuffPost piece on the story.
  • "Marjorie Taylor Greene's looking to the heavens for an omen ... and, it seems she's finding them in every natural phenomenon," quipped TMZ.
  • "An eclipse is not a surprise natural disaster like an earthquake. Eclipses can be calculated many centuries in advance," tweeted controversial pollster Frank Luntz, even though MTG never stated or implied that eclipses were a "surprise."
  • "Fun fact. There are about 3 solar eclipses worldwide per year, and many earthquakes. Both events were predetermined at the creation of the universe," said Adam Kinzinger. "The solar eclipse is not a sign. It’s just a really cool show, if the clouds cooperate[.] This lady is in congress?"
Greene is indeed in Congress, as is Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who also made remarks about the eclipse that were panned on social media. Lee, a Yale graduate who once sat on the congressional Science Committee and the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, told students at Booker R. Washington High School in Houston that the moon is a "planet" that is "made up mostly of gases."
She also told the students that the moon has its own "unique light and energy" that is more "manageable" for humans than that emitted by the sun. "The sun is a mighty powerful heat, but it’s almost impossible to go near the sun," she claimed.
The moon, of course, emits no light of its own, reflecting instead the light from the sun. It is also not composed "mostly of gases." According to NASA's website, the moon's crust is made up of "lighter minerals" that "crystallized" and "floated to the surface" in the moon's "very early history."
Though Lee's comments were contrary to commonly known facts, many of those laughing at MTG said nothing about SJL. HuffPost and TMZ did not report on Lee's moon speech, and Luntz and Kinzinger said nothing about Lee on social media.
Lee later claimed she "misspoke." She has a history of similarly misspeaking, falsely asserting in 1997 that astronauts had planted an American flag on Mars and claiming in 2014 that the U.S. Constitution was "400 years" old.
Newsweek, which reported on the comments from both congresswomen, reached out to both women for comment.
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Sr. Editor, News
Cortney Weil is a senior editor for Blaze News.
cortneyweil
Cortney Weil

Cortney Weil

Sr. Editor, News

Cortney Weil is a senior editor for Blaze News. She has a Ph.D. in Shakespearean drama, but now enjoys writing about religion, sports, and local criminal investigations. She loves God, her husband, and all things Michigan State.
@cortneyweil →

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