McCarthy praises Greene as she pushes Congress to abandon US allies

Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has spent the current Congress pushing to impeach President Joe Biden and members of his administration, abandon the nation’s allies, and criminalize gender-affirming medical care. At the same time, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy praised her on Tuesday as “one of the best members” of his caucus.

At a House committee hearing on Tuesday, Greene proposed an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would force the United States to leave NATO, the international alliance it co-founded in 1949. “Amendment No. 6 directs the president to withdraw the U.S. from NATO,” she said. “They are not a reliable partner whose defense spending should be paid for by American citizens.”

She also offered amendments to bar the Biden administration from providing F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles to Ukraine, saying, “We should not be funding war. We should be pushing for peace.”

Greene has long objected to the United States’ support of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. She vowed in November 2022, “Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine. Our country comes first.”

A QAnon conspiracy theorist with a long history of racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and Islamophobic remarks, Greene was first elected to Congress in November 2020.

Asked a few days after the election about Greene and her fellow QAnon supporter, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, winning seats, McCarthy (R-CA) said they were proof that the GOP is very diverse and that both should be given a chance: “The only thing I would ask of you in a press: These are new members, give them an opportunity before you claim what you believe they have done and what they will do.”

Greene spent much of her first two years spouting hate speech and obstructing the Democratic majority.

In May 2021, she likened COVID-19 safety measures to the Nazi genocide that killed more than 6 million Jews and members of other communities. “It appears Nazi practices have already begun on our youth,” she tweeted, sharing a right-wing conspiracy outlet’s story about a vaccine requirement at the University of Virginia. “Show your VAX papers or no in person class for you. This is exactly what I was saying about the gold star. This is disgusting!”

“Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling,” McCarthy responded in a statement. “Let me be clear: the House Republican Conference condemns this language.”

A few weeks later, after a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., Greene apologized for the hurtful analogy.

But less than a month after that, she likened a Biden administration effort to make COVID-19 vaccines available at home for people who wanted them to Nazi brownshirts, tweeting: “Biden pushing a vaccine that is NOT FDA approved shows covid is a political tool used to control people. People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations.”

In an effort to stall all legislation, Greene repeatedly forced votes to adjourn in the middle of the workday, drawing criticism even from GOP colleagues. “I mean it’s just a pain,” complained Michigan Rep. Fred Upton in March 2021. “It’s a pain in the ass.”

After Republicans won a narrow majority in the House in the 2022 midterm elections, Greene continued to push a far-right agenda.

She filed legislation to impeach President Joe Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Mattthew Graves, while also pushing an unconstitutional resolution to expunge the two impeachments of former President Donald Trump.

Greene introduced a bill that would restrict parental rights and make it a felony to provide gender-affirming medical care for transgender kids, even if their parents approve, bar insurance companies from covering gender-affirming care, and prohibit medical schools from teaching students how to provide it.

In a March 2021 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, she called for an end to American foreign aid for Guam, which has been a U.S. territory since 1899. “We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America. Not for, what? China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam, whatever, wherever,” Greene said.

After Greene called Boebert a “little bitch” on the House floor in June 2023, the far-right House Freedom Caucus reportedly voted to kick her out.

On Tuesday, McCarthy told Axios: “I think Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the best members we have, I think she’s the one of the most conservative members and one of the strongest legislators. I support Marjorie Greene very strongly.”

The speaker later criticized the Freedom Caucus for ousting Greene: “I don’t know why they would do something like that from any perspective. I think it’s a loss for the Freedom Caucus.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.