Republicans disavow Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'disgusting' comments, give her a committee seat
"Republicans have a Marjorie Taylor Greene problem. Again," The Associated Press reports. House GOP leaders urged voters in Georgia's 14th Congressional District to pick someone else in the primary, wary of Greene's QAnon allegiance and documented history of racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Muslim comments. After she prevailed in the primary, they pushed for her victory in the general election. She won.
Calls for Greene's ouster from the House started days after she was seated. And Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said Wednesday he will introduce a measure to expel her, following new scrutiny of her social media history. CNN's KFILE got that ball rolling Tuesday.
Then the floodgates opened. Greene has called various deadly school shootings and the Las Vegas music festival massacre "false flag" events, questioned 9/11, and endorsed some foul QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories.
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Republican leaders are, once again, appalled. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Greene's posts are "disgusting," have "no place in our party" and "should be looked into," adding that "QAnon is beyond fringe. I think it's dangerous." Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) called Greene "a RINO," or Republican in Name Only. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said through a spokesman that her comments are "deeply disturbing" and he "plans to have a conversation with the congresswoman about them."
In 2019, McCarthy stripped former Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) of all his committee assignments after he expressed support for white supremacists, AP reports. "Greene was named this week to the House Education and Labor Committee." CNN's Erin Burnett called that assignment doubly disturbing, given Greene's dismissal of school shootings, but said McCarthy knows some of the money Greene is raising off her outrages will go to the House GOP campaign committee.
Greene issued a weak and incredible non-denial denial of her social media activity, but the "steady stream of revelations" plus "Greene's puzzling defense of herself should make Republicans wonder how long they can put up with this," Aaron Blake writes at The Washington Post. "We tend to overestimate how much a politician like that can drag down their national party, but Greene's lack of remorse and candor reinforces how much of a loose cannon she could be moving forward."
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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