Baffling Marjorie Taylor Greene Comment Becomes Instant Meme

"Your first question is a violation of my HIPAA rights."
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) gave an odd excuse for not disclosing her vaccination status Tuesday that became fast fodder for social media memes.

The far-right lawmaker held a press conference after she was temporarily suspended from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, an activity she makes a habit of both online and off.

She was asked by a reporter if she had been vaccinated and whether she agreed with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who announced over the weekend he had received his first dose of the Pfizer shot and was confident in vaccine safety and efficacy.

Greene apparently didn’t want to share her own vaccination information. A vaccination announcement, like Scalise’s, could encourage hesitant supporters to take the vaccine as the highly contagious delta variant surges around the country.

“Your first question is a violation of my HIPAA rights,” Greene replied. “You see, with HIPAA rights, we don’t have to reveal our medical records and that also involves our vaccine records.”

That’s not correct. HIPAA applies to medical providers, insurers and other health care entities that have access to medical records. It gives individuals rights and limits over what entities can access their health information.

It doesn’t prevent a reporter from asking about your medical history. And it doesn’t prevent anyone from saying whether they’ve been vaccinated.

But hey, if Greene can use it to duck questions, why can’t everybody else?

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