Video of Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene Being Asked About Jan. 6 Officers Goes Viral

A clip of a reporter asking Republican lawmakers campaigning against the "unusually cruel" treatment of January 6 suspects why they haven't spoken out about the treatment of police officers by rioters has gone viral.

On Tuesday, GOP representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Louie Gohmert held a press conference at the Capitol building in D.C. about the alleged mistreatment of January 6 defendants who are being held in custody ahead of their trials.

Greene, who represents the 14th congressional district in Georgia, claimed that the Capitol riot suspects were being "treated differently on a whole another level" in jail.

"They have been beaten by the guards. They are called white supremacists. They are denied religious services, haircuts, shaving, the ability to trim their fingernails," Greene said. "Many of these people have never been charged for a crime before. Some of them are veterans. And the treatment is unbelievable."

While taking questions at the end of the conference, one reporter, believed to be Scott Wong of The Hill, asked why the Republicans had not raised similar concerns about the treatment of the officers who were attacked on January 6.

"I was down there that day, not too far from here. We saw police officers who had been bear sprayed in their eyes and were blinded by many of these January 6 defendants that you are now drawing attention to," the reporter said.

"I don't remember you holding a press conference about the 'unusually cruel' treatment of the Capitol police officers."

In response, Greene said: "You may not remember a particular press conference about police officers, but I have made many public statements and cried out against all violence against police officers…specifically Capitol police.

"Congressman Gohmert sponsored a bill, that I co-sponsored along with him, wanting to give medals of honor to reward them for how they were treated during the January 6 riot but also extend it to police officers all across the country.

"I'm not going to separate them. I am very supportive of our police and I have consistently denounced the violence here. So, do not go down that route. That would be completely unwarranted."

A clip of the exchange was posted on Twitter where it has since been watched more than 700,000 times.

In a statement to Newsweek, Greene's spokesperson Nick Dryer shared a number of the congresswoman's tweets expressing support for the Capitol Police. They included one posted on January 6 stating: "I want to say THANK YOU to ALL of the Police who protected us today and continue to protect us.

"I will always support our great men and women in law enforcement. God bless each of you."

In response to the reporter's remark, Gohmert said: "When it comes to anyone who did violence on a Capitol Police, or any law enforcement [officer], I would have no problem sentencing them and I would send them to incarceration. That is serious.

"But when somebody is in pretrial confinement, it's very important we don't confuse punishment that comes after conviction with pretrial confinement."

Gohmert did introduce a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to Capitol Police after the deaths of three officers who were present on January 6—Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood of the Capitol Police and Jeffrey Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Sicknick died of natural causes one day after he was attacked during the riot, while Liebengood and Smith later took their own lives.

However, Gohmert's bill made no reference to the Capitol attack and was a response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's resolution to award the Gold Medal to January 6 officers. Gohmert claimed Pelosi's bill sought "to drive a narrative that isn't substantiated by known facts."

In June, Gosar, Greene, Gaetz and Gohmert all voted against legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6.

Gaetz, Gosar and Gohmert have been contacted for further comment.