Georgian Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was convicted Tuesday by the House of Representatives Republican chief for a series of comments she made comparing mask and vaccine mandates to the treatment of Jews by Nazis during the Holocaust.
In a number of posts on Twitter, Ms. Greene, A right-wing provocateur, who previously advocated a number of violent and racist conspiracy theories, has opposed decisions by private companies to issue vaccine mandates or to issue mask requirements only for vaccinated individuals. Their comments came amid an increase in anti-Semitic attacks on Jews across the country.
“Vaccinated employees receive a vaccination logo, just like the Nazi Jewish people were forced to wear a gold star,” she wrote in a post Tuesday.
In another, relating to a university that banned unvaccinated students from attending classes in person, she wrote, “It appears that the Nazi practices have already begun in our youth. Show your VAX papers or any personal class for you. That’s exactly what I said about the golden star. “
After encountering a swift wave of public criticism, Ms. Greene refused to apologize, arguing that she never specifically compared mask mandates to the Holocaust, which killed six million Jews, “just the discrimination against Jews in the first years “.
Republican Kevin McCarthy, California Republican and minority leader, who largely did not criticize Ms. Greene despite controversial discussion, issued a statement condemning her language.
“Marjorie is wrong and her deliberate choice to liken the horrors of the Holocaust to wearing masks is appalling,” McCarthy said in a statement. “The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity in human history. The fact that this needs to be ascertained today is deeply worrying. “
His reprimand came after one of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a prominent organization whose political action committee generously contributes to the GOP
Matt Brooks, the group’s executive director, pissed off Ms. Greene on Twitter, describing her as “an embarrassment to herself and the GOP”.
“Please educate yourself so you can see how utterly wrong and inappropriate it is to compare vaccination records with the 6 million Jews exterminated by Nazis,” Brooks wrote.
Greene’s comments created another problem for the House Republican leaders who recently sought to take control of their political message by removing Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney from her post as conference chair, citing their refusal to ignore former President Donald J. Trump’s lie of a stolen election. And they messed up an issue that Republicans have been trying to highlight in recent days when they have tried to label Democrats as inadequate supportive of Israel and the American Jewish community.
Mr McCarthy declined to take action against Ms. Greene on her previous fire testimony earlier this year, including one advocating the killing of spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, although he denied the statements himself.
“Previous comments by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene do not reflect the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference,” McCarthy said in February.
Some Republicans have argued that it would be unfair to blame Ms. Greene for comments she made prior to serving in Congress. But after it was discovered that the newcomer to Georgia had also suggested that a devastating wildfire devastating California was triggered by a “laser” broadcast from space and controlled by a prominent Jewish banking family, the Republican Jewish Coalition entered and said she was “working closely with the Republican leadership of the House on the next steps. “
Mrs. Greene was never disciplined.
