GOP leaders condemn Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar for attending white nationalist event [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• GOP leaders are condemning two Republican lawmakers for their appearance at a White nationalist conference over the weekend.
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke at the America First Political Action Conference in Florida while Gosar appeared via a pre-recorded video.
• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy found their appearance “appalling and wrong.”

Republican party leaders are condemning Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene for appearing at an event organized by a white nationalist.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement Monday criticizing white supremacist hate.

“There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” McConnell said in a statement first reported by Politico.

Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Monday afternoon that he found Greene and Gosar’s attendance “unacceptable.”

McCarthy suggested to reporters that he plans to speak with both Gosar and Greene later this week.

“To me, it was appalling and wrong,” McCarthy told reporters. “There’s no place in our party for any of this. The party should not be associated any time any place with somebody who is anti-Semitic…This is unacceptable.”

McCarthy was in Israel last week with a congressional delegation. He told Punchbowl News that the news of Greene and Gosar’s attendance was particularly upsetting because of his recent visit.

Greene and Gosar have both previously been stripped of their committee assignments for their egregious behavior.

McCarthy, however, has previously said he would restore their assignments if Republicans take back the House in November.

McCarthy told CNN and another reporter outside his office that even though Greene claimed not to know who the event organizer was “with that introduction, you should have walked off stage.”

Shortly before introducing Greene, Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who organized the event, led participants in applause for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and chanted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s name.

Republican Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, when asked about Greene’s behavior Monday, also condemned the event but stopped short of condemning her members.

“White supremacy. Neo Nazism, hate speech, and bigotry are disgusting. They have no place or home and our party.”

The criticism follows recent comments by former President Donald Trump, who continues to praise Putin. During an interview with the conservative radio show “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” on Tuesday, Trump labeled Putin’s tactics “genius” and “savvy.”

Trump ultimately slammed the invasion on Saturday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference but called Putin “smart.”

Greene, however, has doubled down on her appearance.

Over the weekend, in addition to claiming she didn’t know who Fuentes was, Greene said she went to the event to reach his young audience and to discuss “American First” policies.

Source: ABC News