Pro-Trump, Religious Groups Begin Turning Up Heat On GOP To Take Action On Marjorie Taylor Greene

 

Numerous political and religious organizations—many of which are on the political Right and have expressed strong support for former President Donald Trump—have started to turn up the pressure on the Republican Party to take action against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) following another week that featured embarrassing headlines for the party related to past remarks made by the freshman member of Congress.

The move comes after various news reports published this week revealed that Greene had promoted conspiracy theories about 9/11 and major mass shootings, including Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Las Vegas. A CNN report also alleged that Greene had “repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019.”A separate report from New York Magazine noted that Greene has promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including the claim that wildfires in California were started by Jewish space lasers “in order to clear room for a high-speed rail project.”

In response to the latest round of embarrassing headlines that Greene has generated for the political Right, conservatives, and the Republican Party, right-wing political and religious organizations have started to put pressure on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to take action. Some members of Congress have already indicated that they will introduce a resolution to expel Greene from Congress.

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), which endorsed Trump and spent millions in this last election in an effort to boost him over Democrat Joe Biden, released a statement saying that it was working closely with House Republican leadership on the “next steps” in addressing the issues surrounding Greene.RJC stated:

The Republican Jewish Coalition has always spoken out strongly against antisemitic comments from individuals on both sides of the political aisle, and we do not hesitate to do so again in the case of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The RJC does not usually get involved in primary races between Republicans, but in 2020 we did so twice. First, we took the unprecedented step of supporting the challenger to a Republican incumbent when we supported Randy Feenstra over Rep. Steve King in Iowa. We were pleased that Feenstra won that race and removed King from the US Congress.

The second time, we supported Greene’s primary opponent, John Cowan, in Georgia. We did so because we found Greene’s past behavior deeply offensive. She repeatedly used offensive language in long online video diatribes, promoted bizarre political conspiracy theories, and refused to admit a mistake after posing for photos with a long-time white supremacist leader. It is unfortunate that she prevailed in her election despite this terrible record.

The RJC has never supported or endorsed Marjorie Taylor Greene. We are offended and appalled by her comments and her actions. We opposed her as a candidate and we continue to oppose her now. She is far outside the mainstream of the Republican Party, and the RJC is working closely with the House Republican leadership regarding next steps in this matter.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which has 51 member organizations, many of which are right-wing groups that backed Trump, also slammed Greene in a statement, writing in part:

We are outraged by the statements, past and present, of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. She routinely traffics in unfounded conspiracy theories that are often antisemitic in nature. As an avid supporter of QAnon, Representative Greene espouses antisemitic canards, such as placing blame on ‘the Rothschilds’ for recent wildfires in California and declaring that ‘Zionist supremacists’ are behind supposed nefarious plots.

There must be a swift and commensurate response from Congressional leadership making clear that this conduct cannot and will not be allowed to debase our politics.

Finally, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a Christian Zionist organization that has shown strong support for Trump, called on Republican leaders to remove Greene from her committee assignments.

“As we have seen, in recent years there are individuals who subscribe to absurd, dangerous, antisemitic lies and react with violence. Leaders of both parties must unequivocally repudiate those who enable these lies to persist,” CUFI said in a statement. “In light of recent reports that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene advanced wild, antisemitic conspiracy theories, we call upon Republican leaders in Congress to immediately remove Greene from her committee assignments pending a full review of her past statements. It is incumbent upon the leadership of both parties to get their respective houses in order and condemn all those who traffic in antisemitic tropes.”

McCarthy is expected to meet with Greene this upcoming week to address the situation, which Axios noted was the same thing that McCarthy did with Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who was eventually stripped of his committee assignments.


No comments:

Powered by Blogger.