Fact Check

Did Marjorie Taylor Greene Confuse 'Antenna' for a Country?

According to a social media meme, Greene once said, "I just bought a TV that said 'Built in Antenna.' I don't even know where that is."

Published July 19, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 21: (L-R) Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) attend a House Judiciary Committee hearing with testimony from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland at the U.S. Capitol on October 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Garland is expected to give testimony about the status of the Justice Department's investigations into the January 6th attack on the Capitol. (Photo by Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images) (Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)
Image Via Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images
Claim:
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., once said, "You know nothing is built in America these days. I just bought a TV that said 'Built in Antenna.' I don't even know where that is."
Context

This alleged quote was nothing more than an old joke. There was no record of Greene ever saying it.

On July 12, 2022, a meme was shared on Facebook that claimed U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., once said, "You know nothing is built in America these days. I just bought a TV that said, 'Built in Antenna.' I don't even know where that is." This was not an actual quote by Greene.

We found no record of her ever confusing the phrase "built-in antenna" to mean that a TV was supposedly made in a country with that name. Previously, the same meme was shared on Twitter:

In reality, this alleged quote was nothing more than an old joke. In the past, internet users attributed it to other people, including U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Co., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY. Like Greene, they, too, never said the words about a built-in antenna.

Boebert never said these words. It was nothing more than an old joke.

In 2018, a Twitter user posted the same "built in Antenna" joke to supposedly make it seem like someone said it at a rally for then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

A version of the joke also appeared in the 2008 book titled, "Greatest Jokes of the Century: Book 20." That book made the reference in this passage:

A man was buying a new television and asked the young pretty blonde salesperson its country of origin. She disappeared into the stockroom to look on the box.

On her return she announced that the television in question was, 'Built in Antenna.'

It was unknown who attached the alleged quote to Greene, creating the above-displayed meme, and what motivated the creation. However, Greene's history of real eyebrow-raising comments may have made some people think it was true. For example, while doing an interview with One America News Network (OANN) in 2022, she apparently meant to say "Gestapo" in reference to a secret-police organization in Nazi Germany, but, instead, she said "gazpacho," which is soup.

Sources

Shubnell, Thomas F. Greatest Jokes of the Century Book 20. Thomas F. Shubnell, 2008.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Gazpacho.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/gazpacho.

---. “Gestapo.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gestapo.

Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.