Note: House vote on Greene expected at 4:00pm. Eastern — UPDATE: she’s been voted off the committees. See latest updates below.
Just when you think MTG couldn’t get any worse, David Corn at Mother Jones has dug up more in her background.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Was a Moderator of a Facebook Group Featuring Death Threats and Racist Memes
It promoted assorted conspiracy theories—and even the John Birch Society.
Before she was elected to the House of Representatives as a member from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Trumpy, QAnon-friendly, conspiracy-toting, gun-lovin’, mass-shooting-denying, assassination-promoting lightning-rod Republican, was a top official of the Family America Project, a right-wing outfit. In that capacity, she served as one of a handful of moderators of the group’s Facebook page, which has provided a forum for death threats against Democrats, bigoted attacks on the Obamas and others, and assorted conspiracy theories. The group has also championed the John Birch Society, a far-right conspiracist outfit that claimed throughout the Cold War that globalist and communist treason had penetrated the highest levels of US government.
The article details Greene’s connections to decades of right wing extremism to be found at the website. The woman will never run out of CT.
She’s on a roll:
No signs of backing down after meeting with House Minority Leader McCarthy, discussing things she might do to damp down the flames a little.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) signaled on Wednesday morning that her meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) the night before did little to shut down her bombastic outbursts.
In a Trumpian Twitter screed brimming with smears and racist dogwhistles, Greene ranted that “No matter what [McCarthy] does it would never be enough for the hate America Democrats.”
“We owe them no apologies,” she tweeted. “We will never back down.”
...According to Politico, McCarthy warned Greene that the controversy was putting the House GOP caucus in a difficult position and put forth several options: Apologize and denounce her past views or remove herself from her committee spots. CNN reported that Greene did not agree to apologize.
She’s channeling Donald Trump to raise money off the backlash:
...Deploying the Trumpian tactic of claiming to be singled out by career politicians, Greene blasted out a fundraising email on Wednesday complaining Democrats want her “cancelled from Congress.” She also whined that she doesn’t have the support of the “Establishment wing of the Republican party” — a move she pulled the day before as more Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), decried her past conspiracy-ridden and violent rhetoric that has recently resurfaced.
“Never before has a Republican been under attack like me since the Democrats tried to impeach and remove President Trump from office,” Greene’s fundraising email on Wednesday said. “And without your support, I have no way of defending myself.”
Greene went on to gripe about “Big Tech” banning her from sponsored ads and characterizing the backlash as “nasty smear tactics” before affirming she and her Trumpian rhetoric would not be intimidated.
Steny Hoyer is moving to strip her of all committee assignments, which will probably be a party-line vote.
...“The language she has used, in many respects, goes far beyond the remarks that Steve King made through the years,” Hoyer said, referring to the former congressman from Iowa who McCarthy removed from committees after years of racist and white supremacist remarks.
Democrats wield significant power this time: The resolution to strip Greene of her assignments would yank her off the committees with just a simple majority vote, which can be done without any Republicans.
That ending to the drama would be less than optimal for Republicans, who would be forced onto the record with a vote to punish Greene or not. McCarthy, though, is clearly wary of angering the Greene-Trump base by coming down too hard.
The vote will happen Thursday.
There’s no downside for MTG at this point. Even if they expelled her it would only enhance her appeal for the GOP base — she’d become a right wing media star and martyr to the cause. More worrisome are those who share her views, but are either smart enough to soft-pedal them, or don’t dare to pull them off the way she does.
McCarthy has his hands full — and Pelosi is throwing him an anchor. It’s part of the larger problem for the Republican Party. They have nothing to run on except CT and white grievance at this point. The only ‘good’ side to all this for McCarthy is the circus around MTG is drawing attention away from the rest of the GOP train wreck in progress. ETTD.
After 4 years of Trump, there’s no way back for the party. Either they attempt to seize power by force, lies, and/or vote suppression (which they’re working on) or they (hopefully) go into a death spiral. The problem for the rest of us will be managing containment.
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 · 12:10:52 AM +00:00 · xaxnar
Update: a report on CBS indicates McCarthy is not going to remove Greene from any committees or otherwise do more than issue statements of disapproval. He will also refuse to sanction Liz Cheney for voting to impeach Trump...
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 · 12:44:40 AM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: No Republican members of the House Rules Committee will sanction MTG in any meaningful way. Their arguments are that it would set a bad precedent, that the Majority Party would be infringing on the rights of the Minority Party, that Ilhan Omar should be sanctioned for her remarks (for which she had apologized; Greene is doubling down), and so on.
MTG is saying being booted off committees will actually be a plus.
In an interview published in the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, Greene touted that she believes Democrats’ efforts to boot her off of committee assignments will help clear her schedule so that she can go on a national tour for the purpose of getting more Republicans into the House next year.
“How stupid they are,” Greene said, before Democrats on the House Rules Committee voted to advance a resolution to strip her membership on her committee assignments on Wednesday, setting up a final vote in the full House on Thursday. “They don’t even realize they’re helping me. I’m pretty amazed at how dumb they are.”
And Jim Jordan is… so Jim Jordan.
Asked during an interview on Fox News on Wednesday about Republican strategist and pundit Karl Rove blasting Greene for espousing a slew of bogus conspiracy theories and calling for the QAnon-sympathizing lawmaker to be expelled from Congress, Jordan appeared to suggest that it’s time to move on from holding Greene accountable for her troubling actions before — gasp! — other lawmakers find themselves in the same boat.
Kevin McCarthy has issued a statement. Here it is:
Washington, D.C. – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement:
“Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference. I condemn those comments unequivocally. I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today.
“I made this clear to Marjorie when we met. I also made clear that as a member of Congress we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard than how she presented herself as a private citizen. Her past comments now have much greater meaning. Marjorie recognized this in our conversation. I hold her to her word, as well as her actions going forward.
“I understand that Marjorie’s comments have caused deep wounds to many and as a result, I offered Majority Leader Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address these concerns. Instead of coming together to do that, the Democrats are choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party.
“While Democrats pursue a resolution on Congresswoman Greene, they continue to do nothing about Democrats serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee who have spread anti-Semitic tropes, Democrats on the House Intelligence and Homeland Security Committee compromised by Chinese spies, or the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee who advocated for violence against public servants.
“In the end, this resolution continues to distract Congress, especially given the limited time that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat leadership want the House to debate and work, on what it needs to focus on: getting Americans back to work, getting kids back to school, and providing vaccines to all Americans who need it.”
McCarthy’s statement is prima facie evidence that there is nothing left worth saving in the GOP. Greene is the real face of the party.
Randy Rainbow sums it up.
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 · 5:19:38 PM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: McCarthy is now claiming he has no idea what QAnon is, or even how to say it.
“Denouncing ‘Q-on’…I don’t know if I say it right, I don’t even know what it is,” he said, mispronouncing the name.
The Republican leader’s sudden claim to be unfamiliar with QAnon, which alleges now-former President Donald Trump was on a secret mission to take down a ring of pedophiles among Democratic elites, was a flat contradiction to the not one, not two, but three times he had previously denounced the bonkers conspiracy theory before the controversy over Greene’s far-right extremism erupted several weeks ago.
GOP House members applaud Greene for expressing vague regrets over some of the things she has said — in a private session.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) expressed contrition in private for some of her past incendiary remarks as well as for embracing QAnon conspiracy theories — and received a standing ovation from a number of her colleagues, according to reports.
The comments during a closed-door House GOP conference meeting come as Greene has so far refused to apologize publicly.
Greene was applauded by colleagues for expressing regret for some but not all of her most outrageous comments made on social media — including questioning the 9/11 attacks and blaming a space ray directed by a Jewish cabal for a deadly wildfire.
...“I won’t back down. I’ll never apologize. And I’ll always keep fighting for the people,” the Georgia lawmaker had tweeted Saturday.
Greene later refused to address past comments, vaguely telling right-wing radio host and former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka in an interview published Tuesday that she had “said things I shouldn’t say at some time or another, but I don’t think I have anything to apologize for.”
GOP = QOP.
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 · 5:56:39 PM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: Just to show how much power the crazies have on the right wing, Newsmax host forced to apologize for walking out on My Pillow Mike Lindell.
Newsmax host Bob Sellers pulled a stunning about-face Wednesday after walking out on conspiracy-spewing Mike Lindell during an interview. The anchor apologized for the dramatic exit and called the Trump-supporting MyPillow CEO a “friend of the network” and “an important guest.”
...Newsmax remains firmly in the camp of ex-President Donald Trump, but has eased away from some of the lies asserted by Trump and his allies. That includes Lindell’s falsehoods about rigged Dominion Voting Systems machines. The company has threatened legal action against Newsmax, prompting the network to stop repeating the voting machine claim and to police its guests’ comments. (Dominion also has sent a cease-and-desist warning to Lindell, but it hasn’t stopped him.)
Sellers, however, walked back his forceful gesture in what looks like a brazen suck-up to the MAGA crowd.
Thursday, Feb 4, 2021 · 8:32:19 PM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: It’s still the party of Trump — Digby.
From the Daily Beast:
The House GOP leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), is trying to hold this fractious family together as he eyes reclaiming the majority in 2022. He praised and defended Cheney during the meeting, but according to two sources familiar, he spent more time mounting a defense of Greene, who is facing a Democratic-led push to remove her from her committee assignments.
The House on Thursday took the extraordinary step of ousting a lawmaker from two congressional committees, exiling Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia for endorsing the executions of Democrats and spreading dangerous and bigoted misinformation even as her fellow Republicans rallied around her.
In a move without precedent in the modern Congress, the House voted 230 to 199— over near-unanimous Republican opposition — to remove Ms. Greene from the Education and Budget Committees.
The move effectively stripped Ms. Greene of her influence in Congress by banishing her from committees critical to advancing legislation and conducting oversight. Party leaders traditionally control the membership of the panels, and while Democrats and Republicans have occasionally moved to punish their own members by stripping them of assignments, the majority has never in modern times moved to do so to a lawmaker in the other party.
...“I just have to say that I did not hear an apology or denouncement for the claim, the insinuation that political opponents should be violently dealt with,” said Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and the chairman of the Rules Committee. “I didn’t hear anybody apologize or retract the anti-Semitic and Islamophobic remarks that have been made, that have been posted, over and over again.”
The step of stripping a House member of committee assignments is usually reserved for lawmakers who are facing indictments or criminal investigations or who have otherwise broken with their party in a particularly egregious way. Mr. McCarthy in 2019 stripped former Representative Steve King of Iowa of his committee posts after an interview with The New York Times in which he questioned why the term “white supremacist” was considered offensive.
Only 11 Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against Greene.
Friday, Feb 5, 2021 · 12:24:33 AM +00:00 · xaxnar
UPDATE: Here are the Republicans who joined with the Democrats:
The House of Representatives voted to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) of her committee assignments Thursday, with 11 Republicans joining the Democratic caucus.
The aisle-crossing Republicans were Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), John Katko (R-NY), Fred Upton (R-MI), Carlos Giménez (R-FL), Chris Jacobs (R-NY), Young Kim (R-CA), Maria Salazar (R-FL), Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL) and Chris Smith (R-NJ).
“This is a sad day and a difficult day for the House of Representatives and this country,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) moments before the vote. He added that never in his 40-year career had a “member made such vile and hurtful statements, engaged in harassment of colleagues and expressed support for political violence.”
Friday, Feb 5, 2021 · 6:40:03 PM +00:00 · xaxnar
Update: Greene has not “learned a lesson” unless you count learning how Trump dealt with the press.
On Friday, she said that she was glad to be kicked off of her committees, given the “tyrannically controlled government,” since she’d be wasting her time there anyway. She said that she’d be spending her time instead building a mass of support that she “already got started” — she has claimed to have raised well over $1 million in fundraising off of her scandals so far.
She ended the press conference in a way strikingly familiar to those who watched Trump’s press conferences over the past four years: a verbal fistfight with the reporters asking her questions. When the first reporter asked if she would apologize, Greene immediately asked what outlet they were with. Upon finding out it was CNN, she launched into a counter-interrogation, demanding that the reporter apologize for “lying about President Trump” with the “Russian conspiracy.”
...She decided she’d had enough when a reporter started to ask about the Facebook post Greene liked saying that “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from office.
“That’s your problem. And that’s how we end press conferences,” she said, whipping her speech off the lectern with a flourish.