'We need to recognize that women are the weaker sex:' Marjorie Taylor Greene thanked Matt Gaetz for defending her over Jimmy Kimmel's Will Smith joke

• On Thursday, Marjorie Taylor Greene thanked Matt Gaetz for defending her as "a man."
• "Because we need to recognize that women are the weaker sex," Greene said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has thanked her colleague, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, for defending her as "a man" after talk show host Jimmy Kimmel joked about getting actor Will Smith to slap her.

"Matt, I'm really grateful for you, as in your character and as a man that would stand up and defend me as a woman. Because we need to recognize that women are the weaker sex, and men are stronger than us," Greene said on Thursday's episode of Gaetz's podcast, "Firebrand."

"And, you know, in my family if my husband had been there and had heard Jimmy Kimmel or any other man call for me to be smacked down by another man," Greene said. "My husband, he would not have tolerated that, and he probably would have taken action against him and rightfully so because men should defend women."

Kimmel provoked Greene's ire this week when he made a joke about the congresswoman on his show on Tuesday night. During his monologue, Kimmel criticized Greene for calling senators who voted in favor of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation "pro-pedophile."

"Where is Will Smith when you need him?" Kimmel said, referencing the moment when the actor strode on stage at the Oscars and slapped comedian Chris Rock.

During his podcast on Thursday, Gaetz weighed in on Kimmel's joke, calling the late-night host a "jerk." He added that if the joke had been made by a conservative comedian about a member of the progressive "Squad" — which includes Democratic lawmakers like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar — that there would have been "mass outrage."

"By the way, Jimmy Kimmel, not only would Marjorie Taylor Greene's husband make quick work of you — Marjorie Taylor Greene would make quick work of you," Gaetz said, responding to Kimmel's joke.

"And if you don't believe that, you could go ask the Marines that did pull-ups with her at the Iowa State Fair," Gaetz added. "And my guess is that Jimmy Kimmel would not last too long if he himself were interested in engaging in unprovoked terrible violence against this congresswoman."

Greene said on Wednesday that she had filed a report with the Capitol police against Kimmel, calling the comedian's statements a "threat of violence."

Kimmel then hit back at Greene, mocking her with a tweet that read: "Officer? I would like to report a joke."