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Democrats and several Republicans in the House of Representatives have voted to remove newly elected Marjorie Taylor Greene from their committee assignments following her legacy of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim remarks, amplification of violent conspiracy theories and endorsement of political executions.
The House voted 230-199 to expel the Republican congresswoman from the House Education and Labor Committee, as well as the House Budget Committee, after lawmakers condemned her hateful rhetoric and support for conspiracy theories. unfounded far-right views on social media and in videos. Eleven Republicans left the party to vote with the Democrats.
US Representative Ilhan Omar, whose family fled the civil war in Somalia, stressed that “political violence does not go away by itself.”
Ms. Omar, one of the two Muslim women in Congress, along with US Representative Rashida Tlaib, has suffered repeated attacks from Ms. Greene, who called her elections an “Islamic invasion” in Congress.
“It is about whether or not we will continue to be a peaceful and functional democracy,” Ms. Omar said in the House on Thursday.
Ms. Tlaib said that Ms. Greene’s appointments to two House committees is “absolute endorsement of white supremacy” in Congress.
“There must be consequences,” he said.
Republicans repeatedly threatened her impeachment to set a precedent they are more than willing to follow, drawing false equivalences of Ms. Greene’s unapologetic fanaticism with statements by Democrats criticizing the influence of Israel-connected lobbying firms in American politics.
“You will regret this, and you may regret this much sooner than you think,” said minority leader Kevin McCarthy, adding that the Republican Party has a “long list” of Democratic goals.
In her 10-minute speech to the House on Thursday, Ms Greene did not apologize for her bigoted remarks and was equivocal when discussing her story, blaming the media and “canceling culture” for the backlash she received afterwards. of your choice in 2020.
Following outrage on the right over the investigations into Donald Trump and Russia, he said he fell into a QAnon den on social media and “was allowed to believe things that were not true and I would ask questions about them and talk about them.” and that is absolutely what I regret ”.
“If it weren’t for the Facebook posts and comments that I liked in 2018, I would not be here today and you could not point the finger or accuse me of anything wrong because I have lived a very good life that I am proud and my family is proud, my my husband is proud, my children are proud, and that’s what my district chose me for, ”she said.
Closing his remarks, he said: “Will we allow the media who are as guilty as QAnon of presenting the truth and lies to divide us? Will we allow ourselves to be addicted to hatred and to hate each other? I hope not, because that is not the future I want for my children and it is not the future I want for any of their children. “
“Equating the media with QAnon is incredible,” said Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern, chairman of the House Rules Committee.
“I didn’t hear a disavowal or an apology,” she said, noting that Ms. Greene continues to “benefit from hurtful comments” by promoting her fundraising efforts as lawmakers debated in recent weeks to remove her from committees.
On Thursday, he sent a fundraising email falsely claiming that US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told protesters to “beat up a policeman” and described the vote on his impeachment “because I dared to defend you instead. from the elites of DC “.
“I don’t know what the hell happened to the Republican Party,” he said. “Just take a moment and look at their posts on social media … Don’t take my word for it. Google it. Everything is there. “
On Thursday night, an irate Steny Hoyer, the 81-year-old House Majority Leader, raised a sign on the floor of the House with an enlarged photograph of Mrs. Greene holding a rifle alongside a composite image of Mrs. Omar, Mrs. Tlaib and Mrs. Ocasio. -Cortez, which Ms. Greene shared on social media during her campaign, promoting herself as “the squad’s worst nightmare.” Facebook removed it for violating its policies against incitement to violence.
Steny Hoyer displays an enlarged image showing Mrs. Greene holding a rifle alongside an image of three Democratic congressmen.
(via REUTERS)
“I heard about motherhood today,” she said. “Between the three of them, they have six children. They are not ‘the squad’. They are persons. They are our colleagues. “
He walked with the image to the other side of the House cameras to show the Republicans.
“Imagine their faces on this poster,” he said. Imagine you are a Democrat with an AR-15. Imagine what your answer would be. “
The congresswoman’s ideology and public persona are shrouded in beliefs and rhetoric related to the QAnon hoax, including the belief in a conspiratorial “deep state” in US politics that Greene and other far-right figures like Donald Trump have vowed to combat. if they are elected. .
In social media posts from 2018 and 2019, he also appeared to endorse “false flag” conspiracies involving school shootings and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the executions of Democratic officials, and the anti-Semitic belief that a Jewish clique lit a Deadly forest fire from space. . He also moderated a far-right Facebook page that became a forum for death threats and conspiracies.
In his comments on the floor of the House, he said that the 9/11 attacks “absolutely happened” and that the school shootings are “absolutely real.”
On Wednesday night, he addressed a conference of Republican lawmakers during a closed-door meeting, during which he reportedly apologized, after Congressman McCarthy said he would not face any consequences within his own party, who voted on the possibility of stripping the third-rank Republican Party. Congresswoman Liz Cheney from her leadership role by voting to impeach the former president. After her apology, Ms. Greene received a standing ovation.
“What should have happened is some remorse for the pain Miss Georgia has caused and acknowledged that pain, the damage she has caused, the violence she has championed,” said Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, author of the resolution for remove Ms. Greene from her committee appointments.
She added: “I would have hoped that he would have realized the amazement and gravity of serving in this institution, and despite all the damage from the words and actions he caused, now that he is a member of this body, he regrets it.”
