Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she doesn't "believe in evolution"

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said this week she does not "believe in evolution," adding, "I don't believe in that type of so-called science."

What she's saying: Greene leaned on religion to explain the origins of the coronavirus. "Why is there any need to create a virus that could spread rapidly to a population, to make people sick and kill them? That is a bioweapon," she said.

• Greene noted she doesn't support so-called “gain-of-function research,” in which lab technicians modify a virus to develop vaccines and other medications.
• "I don’t buy it because I don’t believe in evolution," the freshman Republican from Georgia added. "I don’t believe in that type of so-called science. I don’t believe in evolution, I believe in God."

Of note via Axios' Dave Lawler: The "lab leak" theory was initially dismissed by most scientists and public health officials and spread mainly by some of China's loudest critics. Now, everyone from President Biden to 18 leading biologists (writing in Science) to NIAID director Anthony Fauci to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for further investigation.

Context: Greene, who supports conspiracy theories including QAnon, has made several controversial, often debunked, statements since running for office.

She has compared mask mandates to the Holocaust, expressed support for 9/11 conspiracy theories and suggested that school shootings in Parkland and Newtown were "false flag" operations, before changing her stance before the House floor.

• Greene was stripped from her committee assignments earlier this year, in part over her past statements, which included anti-Semitic remarks.