Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger has described Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as an "idiot" over her recent remarks about the military.
Kinzinger, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, was reacting to an interview Greene gave on former Fox News host Lou Dobbs' podcast on April 9.
During the episode, Dobbs and Greene spoke about why people would want to join the military under President Joe Biden in the wake of the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan in August 2021, during which 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport.
Dobbs also questioned why people would enlist in Biden's military if they were going to be used as "boots on the ground" in Europe amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine after fighting with a "third world country for two decades" before pulling out "with our tail between our legs."
"Who in his or her right mind would say 'sign me up for that, Sarge?'" Dobbs asked.
In reply, Greene said: "Not my son and I know a lot of young people don't want to have anything to do with that. It's like throwing your life away. Not to mention how they've been forced to take the vaccine and the ones that didn't want to take it have been discharged. Who wants to be treated that way?"
In a tweet, Kinzinger condemned Greene for saying people should be put off enlisting for the military under Biden.
"Just an absolute idiot. Yet still will be praised by people like [House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy] because, well, money and speakership," Kinzinger said.
Audio of Greene's remarks was also posted to Twitter by Democrat Wendy Davis, a congressional candidate hoping to defeat Greene in Georgia's 14th district.
While sharing Davis' post, Kinzinger wrote: "Hello MTG. I'm still in the military and it certainly is not a life thrown away. You are an absolute, utter, Faux patriot. Some might say fraud."
In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Greene said her "throwing your life away" remark wasn't referring to the military as a concept, but merely under the Biden administration.
During her interview with Dobbs, Greene also dismissed the "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" training issued to service members as "ridiculous ideology of the sick and satanic left" and another reason not to enlist.
This is not the first time Kinzinger has mocked Greene. In March, the Illinois congressman ridiculed Greene after she mistakenly referred to Biden as the "commander and chief" instead of the correct term for the president's role as head of the country's armed forces, commander in chief.
"I mean seriously, if anyone is going to say 'commander and chief' it's her. She literally has no idea it's commander in chief and I'm zero percent surprised," Kinzinger tweeted.
Greene has been contacted for further comment.
