MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2021) Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a scathing rebuke of freshman GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, equating belief in "loony lies" to a "cancer for the Republican Party."
Greene has become the center of much scrutiny and debate since her election to the House from Georgia's 14th congressional district. The firebrand conservative was found espousing conspiracy theories and calling for violence against Democratic opponents on social media in the past. She also issued articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden days after his inauguration. There have been growing calls on Capitol Hill to strip Greene from her appointed committee positions.
"Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality ... This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party," McConnell said in a statement first shared with The Hill.
The influential lawmaker's statement represents a rare rift in the otherwise monolithic Republican and may be an early drawing of battle lines between establishment Republicans and the more radical conservative.
Although McConnell did not mention Greene by name, the controversial Congresswoman issued a prompt response.
"The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully," Greene tweeted.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is set to meet with Greene this week and decide on whether to boot her from education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee. McCarthy's decision is further complicated by Greene's claim that she spoke to former President Donald Trump and received his unwavering support.
House Democrats have threatened to floor a vote to dismiss Greene from the committees if McCarthy does not do so.
The rhetoric within the GOP has grown increasingly toxic in the aftermath of the storming of Capitol Hill on January 6. On that day, McConnell famously opposed voting against the certification, drawing the ire of many conservatives loyal to Trump.
