‘Are you serious?’: US pollie blasts ABC host

When a controversial US congresswoman appeared for an interview with Sarah Ferguson on ABC’s 7:30, the results were fiery to say the least.

A controversial US congresswoman launched a personal attack on ABC host Sarah Ferguson in a fiery interview on 7.30, questioning whether she is a “serious interviewer” and whether she is “marching orders from the Democratic Party”.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has made headlines in recent years with her promotion of conspiracy theories such as suggesting the 9/11 attacks were a hoax and that there was government involvement in mass shootings.

Before running for congress, Ms Greene supported calls to execute prominent Democratic Party politicians, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Earlier this month, she compared Donald Trump to Jesus at a rally in Las Vegas, and she also supported his attempt to overturn the 2020 US presidential election results.

She appeared on 7.30 on Wednesday night to speak about Julian Assange. Ms Greene had advocated heavily for his release, which became a reality this week as the WikiLeaks founder returned to Australia a free man.

Ferguson began by asking if Ms Greene had met with the delegation of Australian politicians who travelled to the US earlier this year to lobby for Assange’s release

Ms Greene said she had, but added that she already was of the opinion that the prosecution of Assange should end even before the meeting.

Ms Greene, who appeared via a video call, said she “supports journalists all over the world and here in the United States that actually tell the truth”.

She also appeared to suggest that if Mr Trump is elected president in November, he would likely pardon Assange.

Ferguson then changed subject, and probed Ms Greene about her support for Trump.

She asked if that support had wavered given Mr Trump is now a convicted felon. Ms Greene said the trial was a “sham”.

The interview then became heated as Ferguson tried to change the subject a second time, and Ms Greene claimed she was only invited on to talk about Assange.

Ferguson asked why Ms Greene never accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election, to which the congresswoman began attacking the ABC host.

“Sarah, Sarah. Are we talking about Julian Assange?” Ms Greene asked.

“It’s a question about the rule of law,” Ferguson responded.

“Are you even a serious interviewer? I thought that we were talking about Julian Assange here today,” Ms Greene said.

“We are,” Ferguson said.

The interview became very heated. Picture: 7.30

“That’s what you were asking me to come on your Australian news show. I don’t usually do interviews like this, because people like you can’t be taken seriously,” Ms Greene responded.

The interview then became even more heated — even leading Ms Greene to ask whether Ferguson was “getting her marching orders from the Democratic Party”.

Here is a transcript of the exchange:

FERGUSON: Let me just put this to you, because you used the term “truth” as the reason why you have been so supportive of Julian Assange, so I want to go to one of the most dominant issues of truth in the American landscape. So as I just said …

GREENE: Oh okay. Coming from an Australian, this is the dominant issue, truth. Okay, let’s hear it, Sarah.

FERGUSON: So you’ve lionised people in prison for their role in attacking the Capitol on January 6th including visiting them in prison. This is my question – what will Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters do if he loses the election?

GREENE: So what does this have to do with Julian Assange again, Sarah? I think that was the purpose of our interview.

FERGUSON: Indeed the purpose …

GREENE: Let me tell you something that you don’t quite understand. In 2020, America watched riot day in and day out with BLM riots that cost over $2 billion in our communities and cities across the country.

Sarah, what the Australian people know that probably don’t like your show very much, but they do understand the truth, is that in America today, we have a two-tiered justice system and the Justice Department, the DOJ targets their political enemies and President Trump is the very top of that and people that protested the election on January 6 are also the target of it.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived back on Australian soil at the Canberra RAAF base having signed a plea deal with the United States. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

And what you probably don’t tell your viewers is that many of these people that are being arrested and put in jail simply walked into the Capitol building through open doors and videoed and took pictures of the inside of the Capitol and then they walked out through doors.

And that is, I’m sure, not the images that you show on your network in Australia. But it’s a shame, because that’s what the media has done and twisted and lied.

November election

Ferguson then asked Ms Greene whether she would accept the result if Joe Biden wins in November.

Ms Green appeared to turn to an adviser to ask, “what network is this? What is this, ABC in Australia? Is she getting her marching orders from the Democrat Party? Is this what she decided to come up with today?”

Ferguson said she was asking the question because Ms Greene was a prominent US figure, the election is on the minds of the “whole world” and it’s a “natural point of curiosity” to ask about it.

Ferguson, who has kept cool throughout the entire exchange, ended the interview by saying: “I understand that we’ve reached the end of the questions that you want to answer. Thank you for talking about Julian Assange and joining the programme.”

Ms Greene then paused before smiling and saying “Thank you. good night”.