CrossFit Is Finally Fed Up With Marjorie Taylor Greene

[DonViejo]

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s political identity is tightly intertwined with CrossFit. After a year of scandal at the gym, it’s finally distancing itself from Georgia’s bigoted conspiracy theorist representative.

Ryan Brooks
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Amber Jamieson
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on March 1, 2021, at 8:32 a.m. ET

With every pull-up, power snatch, and hotel-room burpee, Marjorie Taylor Greene used CrossFit to build her brand, from gym owner to the House of Representatives’ most visible far-right conspiracy theorist. Before and during her political rise, CrossFit’s headquarters ignored Greene’s existence and her praise of the company’s workout programs — until now.

CrossFit for the first time disavowed Greene after BuzzFeed News asked in February about her history of calling for violence against political enemies, support for QAnon, attempts to undermine the 2020 presidential election, and amplifying other dangerous and deceptive nonsense. “CrossFit supports respectful fact-based political dialogue to address our common challenges, and we strongly oppose the loathsome and dangerous lies attributed to Ms. Greene,” Andrew Weinstein, a CrossFit spokesperson, told BuzzFeed News.

It started with Greene using her time as an affiliate gym owner to build her credibility as a small business owner. Then she asked for campaign donations and invited at least one gym member to donor events when she launched her congressional bid. Now, in Washington, she points to her time as an athlete and CrossFit affiliate owner to push her political agenda — like her viral hotel room workout in Washington, DC.

Though Greene entwined herself with the brand at nearly every step of her controversial political growth, CrossFit is only speaking out as it struggles to publicly account for its own accusations of racism, bigotry, and ignoring science during a lethal pandemic in its community of affiliates.

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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryancbrooks/marjorie-taylor-greene-qanon-crossfit

[empedocles]

1. 'With every pull-up, power snatch . . . '

[ZonkerHarris]

2. Unless they pull her franchise their words are meaningless

[Hekate]

6. The statements sound like Step One to me...

Let us hope

[Lettuce Be]

10. She is no longer a franchise owner - mentioned in the article

[TheBlackAdder]

3. CrossFit wasn't effective on her arms. That right there indicates it's not all it is claimed to be.

Last edited Mon Mar 1, 2021, 12:45 PM - Edit history (1)

[DavidDvorkin]

12. The top-level competitors look great

But that's no doubt because of other things they do, and the amount and intensity of what they do.

[Blue Owl]

4. CrossFit's random gym guys are probably bummed

[ret5hd]

5. "...the loathsome and dangerous lies attributed to Ms. Greene..."

Does anyone else see two diametrically opposed interpretations of that phrase?

One for us, and a second for them?

[dalton99a]

7. They benefited from her

CrossFit has attempted to revamp its image — but without alienating a large swath of its supporters — after former CEO and owner Greg Glassman resigned in June 2020. That’s when BuzzFeed News published his leaked call with affiliate owners where he questioned why the company would mourn George Floyd’s killing and where he spread vicious racist and QAnon-adjacent conspiracies. In its wake, CrossFit athletes announced that they would boycott the brand’s marquee event, the CrossFit Games, unless new leadership were installed. Gym owners canceled their affiliations and changed their names.

Since CrossFit was founded, it has been a welcome space for conservatives, gaining early traction with law enforcement and military members. Under Glassman, the company’s brand was built on a “libertarian” and machismo philosophy and fostered a tough culture. CrossFit’s statement criticizing the views of a pro-military Republican member of Congress shocked long-term members.

The affiliate owner BuzzFeed News spoke with thinks the national reluctance has to do with an awareness that there are like-minded customers who agree with Greene.

“That’s just such a weak statement,” said Alyssa Royse, a former affiliate owner who ended her gym’s CrossFit affiliation after questioning Glassman about why CrossFit wasn’t speaking out in support of the widespread anti–police brutality protests in the summer of 2020. CrossFit has given Greene “tacit approval,” Royse wrote in a blog posted to her gym’s website in mid-February. “Yes, they can and should distance themselves from her,” Royse wrote, “she’s still posting her workouts and talking about the gym she no longer owns.”

[Initech]

8. The more I learn about her, the more I despise her.

Trump is a garbage person, and he attracts garbage people to his cause. Marjorie Green is but one of thousands.

[crickets]

9. Better late than never.

Any pushback against Greene is a good thing.

[Politicub]

11. Toxicity in stereo. Together they make a dark ASMR.

[obamanut2012]

13. Good, I quit my box because of her Crossfit ownership

And their refusal to denounce her, even if they couldn't strip her franchise from her.