In a rare acknowledgement of the consistent ridiculousness that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) propagates, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has now publicly condemned the Georgia Congresswoman’s comparison of wearing face masks to the horrors of the Holocaust. In a recent right-wing media appearance, Greene insisted that a push for members of Congress to wear masks (or get vaccinated against COVID-19) constituted “exactly the type of abuse” that Nazis perpetrated, which is obviously way off-point in terms of the actual basic facts of the situation.
MTG says Speaker Pelosi wanting Members of Congress to get vaccinated and if not to wear masks is “exactly the type of abuse” as murdering Jews in gas chambers during the Holocaust and David Brody nods along. No follow up. pic.twitter.com/inXfD8UBiG
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 22, 2021
McCarthy referred to Greene’s remarks as “appalling.” He commented as follows:
‘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. At a time when the Jewish people face increased violence and threats, anti-Semitism is on the rise in the Democrat Party and is completely ignored by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Americans must stand together to defeat anti-Semitism and any attempt to diminish the history of the Holocaust. Let me be clear: the House Republican Conference condemns this language.’
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.
My full statement: https://t.co/KnliN3YbJ2
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 25, 2021
McCarthy is not accurately reflecting reality with his claim that anti-Semitism is “on the rise” among Democrats — but still, his condemnation of Greene’s remarks remains notable. When Greene has lost Kevin McCarthy, that’s an easy barometer for revealing just how out there that she really is, because McCarthy isn’t exactly known for being a moral trailblazer.
Greene, meanwhile, has obsessively doubled down. Just this Tuesday, on the same day that McCarthy issued his statement against her remarks, Greene wrote on Twitter in reference to a particular store’s approach to vaccinations that “Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.” Suggesting that there is some kind of logical connection between a basic — and easily fulfilled! — workplace guideline and Nazi oppression is unhinged.
Greene also recently belligerently complained that attempts by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calof.) to supposedly “shame, ostracize, and brand Members of Congress (representing millions of Americans combined) who choose not to get vaccinated or wear a mask are reminiscent of the great tyrants of history who did the same to those who would not comply.”
Greene’s rhetoric has reached the point where she sounds like someone screaming in the hallway of their workplace, getting told to be quiet by a manager, and then yelling back: “No! I won’t be quiet!” as though every mild inconvenience in a functioning society is the same as Nazi terror. That’s the level we’re at here. Greene’s ignorance is astounding.
