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Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly caused a stir in the United States by spreading conspiracy theories. Mitch McConnell, the party’s leader in the Senate, apparently sees this as a threat to Republicans. Now he has drastically distanced himself from his party and parliamentary colleague Greene.
“Crazy lies and conspiracy theories” are “cancer for the Republican Party,” the policy website “The Hill” quoted a McConnell statement Monday. Anyone who claims that no planes crashed into the Pentagon in the September 11, 2001 attacks, or that the school massacres were just a sham, “is not living in reality,” said the top Republican.
According to “The Hill,” McConnell refrained from calling Greene by name in his statement. But it was clear that he was referring to the deputy who has only been a member of the House of Representatives in Washington since January.
A reaction from the controversial politician followed immediately. On Twitter, Greene replied, “The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who can only lose politely,” he wrote, referring to the recent defeat of Republicans in the legislative and presidential elections.
Greene is a fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump and has also spread his conspiracy theory that his defeat to new President Joe Biden in the November election was the result of massive fraud. McConnell, however, acknowledged Biden’s victory and after the election broke with Trump, with whom he had mostly worked closely during his four-year tenure.
Gun fanatic and QAnon supporter
Greene, 46, won his term in Congress in the US state of Georgia. She is a supporter of the right-wing QAnon movement. This movement spreads a conspiracy theory of a global left-liberal cult of pedophile Satanists. The gun fanatic is also said to have endorsed posts on online networks in the past promoting the execution of prominent Democratic Party representatives, such as Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
McConnell’s statement reflects concerns that Greene could make it difficult for Republicans to regain Senate and House majorities from Democrats in the November 2022 congressional elections.
The leadership dispute among Republicans is emerging
Since Trump’s defeat and the subsequent loss of the Republican majority in the Senate in the by-elections in early January, there has been a growing dispute over the direction of the Republicans. In doing so, those forces that see a clear break with Trump as the most promising path are rivaling those that continue to trust the former president.
Greene is symbolic of the extent of radicalization that has taken place in parts of the Republican Party in recent years. Despite her extreme views, the new deputy was appointed by her party to serve on various parliamentary committees, including the Education Committee.
Democrats, on the other hand, are threatening a plenary vote this week to oust Greene from these bodies if the leader of the Republican parliamentary group Kevin McCarthy does not recall the committees’ conspiratorial ideologue.
