Republican lawmakers say they're upset by Greene's antisemitic comments — this time

Several House Republicans are distancing themselves from comments by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) comparing COVID-19 prevention efforts to the Holocaust. But faced with her long record of antisemitic and racist comments in February, the same lawmakers voted against stripping Greene of her committee assignments.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that his caucus did not stand with Greene’s latest rantings: “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling. Let me be clear: the House Republican Conference condemns this language.”

McCarthy was referring to a series of comments by the first-term representative opposing mandatory vaccination and wearing masks, which she said, “create discrimination against unvaxxed people who trust their immune systems to a virus that is 99% survivable.”

She likened this to Nazis forcing Jewish people to wear gold stars and then putting them into gas chambers.

“I agree with @GOPLeader,” responded Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson. “There is no comparison to the Holocaust & we must stand firmly against anti-Semitism in any form.”

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the new House Republican Conference chair, tweeted that “Equating mask wearing and vaccines to the Holocaust belittles the most significant human atrocities ever committed. We must all work together to educate our fellow Americans on the unthinkable horrors of the Holocaust.”

“I am no fan of mask mandates, but comparing them to the Holocaust is over the top & out of line,” wrote Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler. “I stand with our Jewish brothers & sisters & condemn these disgraceful comments.”

“Any comparisons to the suffering and torture that so many endured are misguided, insulting, and minimizes the atrocity of the Holocaust,” said Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

“Mask mandates are not even remotely comparable to the discrimination and persecution Jews faced during the Holocaust and to insinuate the two are similar is disgraceful,” said Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. “Given the rise of antisemitism around the world today, I find this comparison even more appalling.”

“Comparing mask-wearing to the horrors of the Holocaust is unconscionable. Such bombastic rhetoric crosses the line of political discourse, adds to the recent uptick of anti-Semitism across the world and must be condemned,” wrote Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas said Greene’s comments were “stupid and insulting to Holocaust survivors,” urging her to “Just stop. Members of Congress should think before they speak.”

“I never ever compare anything to the Holocaust, unless it is the Holocaust,” noted Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee.

In a CNN interview on Sunday, Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan said “any comparisons to the Holocaust, it’s beyond reprehensible” and that her “hyperbolic speech” fuels antisemitism.

But while the GOP caucus may now be outraged, 199 of its members — including every one of those ten — voted against holding her accountable for a long history of other antisemitic, Islamophobic, and racist behavior.

Prior to her 2020 election to Congress, Greene professed that Muslim Americans “do not belong in our government,” that Black people are “lazy” and make “bad choices,” that a prominent Jewish banking family caused deadly California wildfires with secret space lasers, and that “the most mistreated group of people in the United States today are white males.” She also shared an anti-Muslim video on social media that claimed that Jews were trying to destroy Europe via “immigration and miscegenation.”

On Feb. 4, her colleagues voted to take away Greene’s committee assignments as a punishment for conduct that did not “reflect creditably on the House.” But just 11 Republicans joined 219 Democrats in voting for that resolution.

McCarthy and the GOP leadership defended her at the time, taking no action on their own and standing by Greene. In November, he demanded  Americans give her an “opportunity” to serve before judging her.

Greene offered a pseudo-apology on Tuesday, somehow blaming Democrats for her problems.

“I’m sorry some of my words make people uncomfortable, but this is what the American left is all about. And they are America last in every single way,” she tweeted.

McCarthy and his caucus might soon get another chance to punish Greene. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) said Tuesday he is drafting a resolution to censure her for her actions.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.