At a small TV station in July, two candidates vying for the open congressional seat for Northwest Georgia sat next to each other behind a table decorated with a stars-and-stripes pleated fan. One looked more comfortable than the other.
John Cowan, in a blue suit with a maroon power tie, sat to the right of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Leading up to the debate, several of Cowan’s political ads showed the neurosurgeon in scrubs and others showed him in tactical gear boasting his involvement with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office as a reserve deputy.
Less than 15 minutes into the debate, Greene flipped a question about the COVID-19 pandemic into an attack on Cowan, alleging he purchased products from China for his company instead of buying American.
Cowan shuffled his legs underneath the table and looked down. He was visibly uncomfortable but prepared himself for his first rebuttal in a debate that went off the rails early and often.
Cowan admitted to buying goods from China and immediately tried to flip it back on Greene, alleging she also buys goods from China for her construction company. Greene told Cowan he didn’t know anything about her business.