Republican leaders on both the House and the Senate have condemned incendiary remarks from GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene five days after she first publicly compared Capitol Hill mask rules to the Holocaust, amid a wave of criticism from across the political spectrum aimed at the QAnon lawmaker and the party leaders’ silence.
Under increased pressure from Republican and conservative critics as well as Jewish groups, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement: “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.”
A spokesman for the No. 2 House Republican, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, also responded to Greene’s comments for the first time on Tuesday. “Rep. Scalise does not agree with these comments and condemns these comparisons to the Holocaust,” Lauren Fine said in a written statement.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the newly elected No. 3 House Republican, also responded to the controversy in a tweet that didn’t include Greene’s name.
“Equating mask wearing and vaccines to the Holocaust belittles the most significant human atrocities ever committed. We must all work together to educate our fellow Americans on the unthinkable horrors of the Holocaust. #NeverAgain,” Stefanik wrote Tuesday morning, following McCarthy and Scalise’s remarks.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also spoke out against Greene on Tuesday morning when asked about her latest comments on the Holocaust.
“Once again an outrageous and reprehensible comment,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said, according to CNN.
The comments from the GOP leadership come five days after Greene’s original comments and after she made similar comparisons Tuesday.
Green has been under fire for repeated comments comparing health concerns and mask-earing to the holocaust.
