Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent mask-wearing comments have drawn ire from both the public and her fellow legislators.
In a recent appearance for Real America’s Voice on The Water Cooler with David Brody, Greene drew shocking comparisons between the Holocaust and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s request for proof of vaccination on the part of House members who choose to not wear a mask: “You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany, and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.”
Greene’s comment attracted immediate fire, including from the American Jewish Congress, explicitly condemning her remarks:
You can never compare health-related restrictions with yellow stars, gas chambers & other Nazi atrocities.
Such comparisons demean the Holocaust & contaminate American political speech.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene must immediately retract and apologize.https://t.co/pdU8H8h2tO
— American Jewish Congress (@AJCongress) May 21, 2021
Most notably, Greene drew rebuke from her Republican counterparts, in a clear indication of rising tension within the party. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) scolded Greene for her comparison, stressing the House Republican Conference’s condemnation of her remarks. In an official statement, McCarthy said, “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling. The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling.”
Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer joined in, condemning Greene’s words: “I don’t even have words to describe how disappointing it is to see this hyperbolic speech.” Meijer, a former intelligence adviser, went on to assert that Greene’s analogy “amps up and plays into a lot of the antisemitism that we have been seeing in our society today.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) added to the criticism, highlighting similarities between Greene’s rhetoric and that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.):
Remember when we all criticized AOC for comparing detention centers to concentration camps?
Because it was so stupid and insulting to Holocaust survivors?
You’re doing the same thing. Just stop.
Members of Congress should think before they speak. https://t.co/kQbmSNl2bM
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) May 25, 2021
For her part, Greene has rebuffed her critics, claiming that she “said nothing wrong.” In an Arizona 12 News interview, Greene said, “I think any rational Jewish person didn’t like what happened in Nazi Germany & any rational Jewish person doesn’t like what’s happening with overbearing mask mandates and overbearing vaccine policies.”
Greene also went on in the Brody interview to call Speaker Nancy Pelosi “mentally ill.”
Her comments, while drawing flak from Speaker Pelosi, have been met with relative silence from prominent leftist Democrats including Ocasio-Cortez and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, even after Omar called recent proposed U.S. aid to Israel “appalling.”
This is far from the first time Rep. Greene’s statements have caused tension within the GOP. In February, the House removed Greene from her committee assignments for numerous inflammatory statements, with Mitch McConnell asserting that “Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country.”
A petition emerged after the Brody interview, quickly garnering more than 70,000 signatures, calling on House Minority Leader McCarthy to expel Greene from Congress, as her comments enable further division within the party.
