Marjorie Taylor Greene compares House mask mandate to the Holocaust

Controversial GOP congresswoman comes under fire for insensitive comments comparing mask refusers to “second class citizens” Jews in Hitler’s Germany

Clara Hill
Saturday 22 May 2021 14:49 BST
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Republicans take mask-free selfie in chamber resulting in $500 fines

Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has said that being requested to wear masks on the floor of the House to restrictions placed on Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

The politician, who has been linked to the conspiracy theory group QAnon, made these remarks on the conservative podcast The Water Cooler.

“You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,” Greene said. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about,” she told host David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Ms Taylor Greene has joined forces with other GOP colleagues to flaunt the rules imposed by congressional medical professionals who insist on maintaining all those working on Capitol grounds to wear face coverings despite the CDC’s guidance, who ruled that all people who are fully jabbed against COVID-19 can forgo masks inside.

During the week, she was spotted taking a group selfie with Republican colleagues next to the ballot box. Afterwards, Rep. Brad Mast tweeted that the fine he received was the “best $500 I ever spent.”

Jewish groups have condemned these comments and asked for the representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district to apologise and take back her words.

On the podcast, she also claimed that the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is not interested in stopping the spread, but wielding power.

"This is a woman that doesn’t care about people’s safety," Greene said."This is a woman that is hyper-focused on her own power and control."

Ms Taylor Greene has refused to disclose whether she has been vaccinated against covid or not, as did 100 of her colleagues. According to a survey by CNN, all Democratic representatives have been completely vaccinated against the coronavirus but the unknown levels within GOP ranks caused Rep. Pelosi to keep the rules in place.

She is no stranger to inflammatory behaviour and comments before and after being elected to her current position. Her behaviour such as peddling unverified claims about the 2020 election being illegitimate, harassing school shooting survivors and connection to Qanon has led her to be removed from her House committee duties.

Additionally, video footage of her recently emerged of her harassing her Democratic colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 before she was elected, causing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to call for the Republican party to suspend her.

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