Joe Scarborough faced an on-air correction from Marjorie Taylor Greene on “Real Time With Bill Maher” after repeatedly misstating the FACE Act’s name during a discussion about Don Lemon’s arrest.
Both Scarborough and Greene served as Maher’s panelists for Friday’s episode of the HBO program, where they shared their clashing stances on Lemon’s arrest, which came about following his presence at an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota earlier this month.
Lemon faces charges under two federal statutes, conspiracy to deprive rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which in part prevents one from interfering with someone’s First Amendment right of religious freedom.
Greene made it clear that she “completely supports” the DOJ’s decision to indict the independent journalist, claiming Lemon violated the FACE Act by disrupting a place of worship and comparing the parishioners to “white supremacists.”
“That’s not journalism, that’s activism,” the former Congresswoman from Georgia stated. “Disrupting a worship service, stopping people’s right to worship God, that is a violation of the FACE Act … I don’t think that’s journalism. That’s not First Amendment, going in and harassing people in the middle of church.”
After Greene concluded her point, Scarborough attempted to jump in with his own point, but initially struggled to nail down the specifics of the case.
“If I can disagree here, I think the people that went into the church, that were the protesters, if under the Faith Act,” Scarborough said, gesturing to Greene for support.
Greene quickly chimed in with a correction, noting “the FACE Act.” However, Scarborough didn’t appear to hear her, as he once again repeated “the Faith Act.”
Again, Greene fact-checked Scarborough, telling the TV personality that the federal law is called the “FACE Act.”
“Faith, right,” Scarborough hit back. The two former politicians did this back-and-forth over the name a couple more times, until Scarborough realized his error.
“Oh, FACE,” he said. “I thought it was, ‘You Gotta Have Faith,’ because it was in [a] church. “
As Maher’s studio audience erupted with laughter, Greene added, “The parishioners, the Christians, have faith and they were trying to have church and Don Lemon and a bunch of activists came in and harassed them to the point that children were crying.”
Scarborough doubled down on his stance, however, sharing, “Whatever that act is, whether it’s the FACE Act or the Faith Act or the Fake Act, whatever act it is, I think the people that went in and disturbed that church, if the [DOJ] wants to prosecute them that’s certainly their right to consider that.”
He continued: “I think there has to be sort of a differentiation between if somebody’s going in there and saying, ‘I’m not with them. Can I ask you some questions?’ Because you’re going to have embeds in war, you’re going to have embeds in protests.”
Per Scarborough, he had “no doubt” that the arrests of journalists Lemon and Georgia Fort “meant to scare other reporters.”
Lemon expressed a similar sentiment following his release Friday, sharing with reporters, “There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
He added: “Last night, the DOJ sent a team of federal agents to arrest me in the middle of the night, for something that I’ve been doing for the last 30 years — and that is covering the news. The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists … I will not be silenced.”
“Real Time With Bill Maher” airs new episodes Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.
