Far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene claims that the US government can control the weather

Question

Greene's been making this claim for years, but in receiving recent backlash she doubled down and posted the attached link on X. This is among many other of her X posts defending her argument.

Answer 1

While Marjorie Taylor Greene has made claims about the federal government controlling the weather, I doubt she believes them and is instead trying to get engagement and attention through outrage. A study headlined by Daniel Machon at Tulane University showed that "online users can become relatively more engaged with content that clashes with their ideology". Marjorie Taylor Greene is known to make outlandish and exaggerated statements in an attempt to garner a bigger spotlight. While it's true that Greene has claimed U.S. temperament in the weather, it's likely that she is trying to envoke what Machon calls the "confrontation effect" and get more media attention.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074959782400058X?via%3Dihub

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Answer 2

This article posted by The Hill states that there was a post was made by Marjorie Taylor Greene claiming that the government has the ability to control the weather. This post came in the wake of the destructive hurricane Helene and in anticipation of the quickly approaching hurricane Milton. This statement has been called out as incorrect by her colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Her first post came on October 3rd where she shared a picture of hurricane Helene superimposed on a map of the 2020 election results. Later that day she made the post saying, "Yes, they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done."

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4925267-greene-takes-fire-for-sharing-for-remarks-about-the-weather/