U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) addresses supporters during a primary election watch party on May 24, 2022 in Rome, Georgia. (Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
Thereâs a nationwide shortage of tampons due to supply chain problems, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene knows exactly who to blame for that: transgender men. After NPR referred to tampon users as âpeople who menstruateâ in a story about the shortage, the chilling tale of inclusive phrasing eventually made its way to Greene, who in the past has fantasized about her husband violently beating a trans woman and repeatedly mocked the transgender daughter of her colleague Democratic Rep. Marie Newman. âHas anyone checked the warehouses at the border where all the baby formula is stocked floor to ceiling on shelves?â Greene tweeted Monday, a reference to the also-wrong claim from the right that immigrants were responsible for the formula shortage at the border. (Greene and 191 other House Republicans later voted against a bill intended to speed up the FDAâs approval process for formula manufacturers.) âOr maybe some menâs restrooms? Apparently they are available there.â
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Earlier, Greene had tweeted, in response to a Fox News clip highlighting the shortage: âDemocratâs war on women continues.â
Like other goods and commodities, tampons are in a shortage because of global supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic as well as rising costs of materials, NPR reported. Time magazine, which reported on the shortage last week, also noted that the executives at the companies that dominate the tampon marketâincluding Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Edgewellâare men, and suggested that solving the tampon shortage hasnât been a priority. After the shortage hit the national media, however, tampon makers and stores that carry the products promised theyâre working on it, and that the shortage wonât last much longer.Procter & Gamble, which makes the Tampax brand of tampons, said itâs âworking hard to ramp up productionâ and that the shortage was a âtemporary situation,â in a statement to the BBC. Edgewell, which manufactures Playtex tampons, said itâs been âimpacted due to extensive workforce shortages caused by two separate Omicron surges in the US and Canada in late 2021 and early 2022, respectively,â in another statement to the BBC. âWe have been operating our manufacturing facilities around the clock to build back inventory and anticipate returning to normal levels in the coming weeks,â a spokesperson told the network.Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.