The gaffe sparked an instant and widespread reaction on the internet.
Gazpacho, a chilled soup composed of vegetables that originated on the Iberian Peninsula, is traditionally consumed in the summer and has sparked a wide variety of popular gustatory variations.
It is suspected that Greene intended to say ‘Gestapo’, for one of her favorite tropes, the genocidal secret police that terrorized Nazi Germany and their occupied territories. The notorious force played a key role in the Holocaust and were responsible for, among other horrific duties, stamping out dissent. Following World War II, they were classified as a criminal organization by the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg trials.
Greene did not offer evidence to support her claim that Pelosi had either a secret police force or a secret soup chef force. Right before her gaffe, she claimed that the “[District of Columbia] jail [...] is the DC gulag.”
Gulags were a series of forced labor camps throughout the Soviet Union. Conditions varied depending on the time, place, and larger events throughout the USSR. The USSR defeated Nazi Germany in World War II at an appalling cost of life.
Following the gaffe, Greene took to Twitter and played along with her misstatement. She tweeted, “No soup for those who illegally spy on Members of Congress, but they will be thrown in the goulash.”
Goulash is a traditional Hungarian soup or stew, with meat, vegetables, and paprika. The dish is enjoyed throughout Central Europe and its name was lent to the form of communism practiced in Hungary following the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution.