Anyone who thought Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was going to morph into a meek and timid freshman lawmaker after the House voted to strip her of her committee assignments over her past inflammatory remarks was in for a rude awakening in the light of day today.

Though Greene, the subject of intense media scrutiny for the past month after the media lost their favorite target, gave a contrite speech on the floor of the House Thursday, she appeared before journalists today on Capitol Hill ready to do battle.

Like alley cats fighting over table scraps, the reporters clamored to ask Greene about the House’s actions last night as well as her past controversial statements and social media activity. Greene clearly was in no mood to play games and gave as good as she got:

Committee work would be fruitless under the “tyrannically controlled government,” in which President Joe Biden is advancing some aspects of his policy agenda through executive orders and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is “leading the Democrats to do whatever they want,” Greene said, adding, “They don’t care what Republicans have to say.”

[…]

When asked by NBC News’ Garrett Haake what her role would be going forward, Greene said she would vote for conservative policies on issues like abortion, gun rights, the border and the economy, “holding the Republican Party accountable and pushing them to the right.”

The real fireworks came at another point when a CNN reporter brought up Greene’s past provocative statements about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and asked her if she stood by them. After asking the reporter if she watched her speech from Thursday, Greene turned the tables on the reporter by bringing up CNN’s reporting of the Russia collusion hoax:

At the press conference, Green was asked about her remark in 2019 that Pelosi is guilty of treason, “a crime punishable by death.” Greene did not apologize for the remark, instead demanding the CNN reporter who had asked the question apologize for stories about Russian “collusion,” which Greene claimed were fake — a reference to the special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

When another reporter brought up her comments about Pelosi again, Greene also asked them if they’d watched her speech from the previous day and pointed out the press was playing the same “gotcha” games with her that they did with President Trump:

Asked about previously liking a Facebook comment that called for the execution of Pelosi, Greene said the question was just like when the press continuously asked Trump to denounce white supremacy.

“Here’s the thing, when you want to keep telling the same story over and over, but you don’t want to tell the truth, that’s your problem. And that’s how we end press conferences,” she said before walking away from the podium.

Watch the media clutch pearls as Greene asks the CNN reporter about apologizing for perpetuating the Russia collusion nonsense:

Rep. @mtgreenee spars w/ CNN reporter: “I want to know, have you apologized for Russian collusion conspiracy lies?” pic.twitter.com/AoDFM5zXrq

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 5, 2021

Greene to CNN reporter, after she asks about past FB posts: “Have you apologized for Russian collusion conspiracy lies?”

— Ted Johnson (@tedstew) February 5, 2021

Like her or not, Greene has a point here, not just about the media’s lies about Russia collusion but also when it comes to beating dead horses. It doesn’t matter how often she apologizes for what she’s said in the past. Reporters are going to dog her about the comments wherever she goes because they have an angle to push and want to paint the entire GOP as the party of crazy kooks while at the same time glorifying the nutcases in the Democratic Party who still have their committee positions.

What’s the answer to it? For all Republicans, including Greene, to not play the media’s games:

This is exactly why you don’t even play the game.

She apologized yesterday and these “journalist” (hacks) pretend it never happened.

Why bother?

Fuck these people. https://t.co/75z4V38cUS

— RBe (@RBPundit) February 5, 2021

The press and Democrats alike may think they’re on to something here, but in reality, what they’ve done is make Greene more formidable, as my colleague Jennifer O’Connell pointed out earlier. And by continuing to obsess about her and making her the focal point over kitchen table issues the American people care about in the middle of a pandemic, the Usual Suspects are predictably overplaying their hand and pushing people who normally wouldn’t defend/explain her to do so.

We saw this play out for four years with Trump. And now they’re doing the same thing with Greene. It’s like these people just never, ever learn.

Related: Ilhan Omar Tries Picking a Fight With Nancy Mace, but Mace Ends It With a Helluva Mic Drop