When far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene agreed to an interview with Sarah Ferguson on ABC’s 7:30, it’s possible she had no idea what she was signing up for and just how seriously her interviewer would take the conversation.
What followed was a masterclass from Ferguson in keeping your cool while being attacked, including as your subject resorts to patronising lines whether you’re a “serious interviewer” and even comments about what “an Australian” should ask.
Despite the attacks, both personal and ridiculous, Ferguson retained her momentum, repeated her questions and kept pushing for answers. Viewers may have expected a comment from Ferguson once Taylor Greene had left the conversation or potentially even a bemused facial expression regarding what had just occurred, but the 730 hosts just got on with the job of moving to the next story.
Taylor Greene is a renowned conspiracy theorist who has shared white supremacists and once called for prominent Democrats to be executed. Two weeks ago, she compared Trump to Jesus at a rally in Las Vegas, and she also supported his attempt to overturn the 2020 US presidential election results.
She might seem like a strange choice for ABC and some would also question giving her a platform, but her rise and popularity in US politics shouldn’t be ignored.
Taylor Greene was invited on air to speak about Julian Assange, having advocated heavily for his release, as one part of the cross-party and ideological support the move to free Assange has received.
Still, an interviewer like Ferguson was never going to just stick to Assange and the more simple stuff.
Ferguson asked if Taylor Greene had met with the delegation of Australian politicians who travelled to Washington earlier this year to lobby for Assange — in which Taylor Greene said she did, and said she had already formed the view prior to the meeting that the prosecution of Assange should end.
Tayor Greene added that she “supports journalists all over the world and here in the United States that actually tell the truth.” She also suggested that if elected president, Trump would likely pardon Assange.
Ferguson moved on to asking about Taylor Greene’s support for Trump, including if she has reservations about such support now that he’s a convicted felon.
Taylor Greene described the New York court as embarrassing and said the trial was a “sham”.
Ferguson asked why she’s never accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“Sarah, Sarah. Are we talking about Julian Assange?” Taylor Green asked back.
“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,” Taylor-Greene shot back.
“We are,” Ferguson said.
“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,” Taylor-Greene responded.
The interview went on, including accusations from Taylor Greene that an Australian journalist is “getting her marching orders from the Democratic party”. Below is part of the transcript, unedited:
SARAH 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 …
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Oh okay. Coming from an Australian, this is the dominant issue, truth. Okay, let’s hear it, Sarah.
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?
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: So what does this have to do with Julian Assange again, Sarah? I think that was the purpose of our interview.
SARAH FERGUSON: Indeed the purpose …
MARJORIE TAYLOR 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.
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.
In the final thirty seconds or so, Marjorie Taylor Green appeared to turn to an advisor to ask, “what network is this? What is this, ABC in Australia? Is she getting her marching orders from the Democrat Party?”
Ferguson noted that as a prominent US figure, and with the first US presidential debate being this week, the election is on the minds of the whole world and it’s a “natural point of curiosity” to ask about these things.
Ferguson then ended with the comment that, “I understand that we’ve reached the end of the questions that you want to answer”, having maintained her composure and her cool during the entire interview.