McConnell slams Rep. Greene’s ‘loony lies’ as ‘cancer for the GOP’ [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) slammed GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (GA.) conspiracy theories, saying that it’s a “cancer” for the Republicans.
• Greene responded by saying that the real cancer was “weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully.”
• Greene’s controversies have been troublesome for top Republican leaders.

In a statement shared to The Hill on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) slammed freshman GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA.) for relying on “loony lies and conspiracy theories,” which he described as a “cancer for the Republican Party.”

“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,” the top Republican senator said.

McConnell did not directly call out the legislator’s name but his remarks suggested that he noticed the danger of her vicious statements and conspiracy theories, which could affect fellow colleagues as the GOP would attempt to regain back both chambers from the Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections.

In an apparent response, Greene took to Twitter, saying that “the real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully.”

Democrats have signaled to put a floor vote to remove Greene from the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee if she won’t be ousted by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.).

If McCarthy would not act on Greene’s removal, House GOPs in swing districts would be forced to make a polarizing vote.

“Of course she should be removed. While we can’t prevent her from calling herself a Republican, we can take a stand, and need to,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) told The Hill on Monday evening. 

Others, however, were wary that taking her out of the committees would further cause division, as the GOP was still enduring a defeat after President Joe Biden beat their former leader and Senate Democrats took control of the upper chamber.

“It remains to be seen how big of an issue she is long-term. She’s had a noisy entrance, but it’s unclear what she will be viewed as and whether she will even be known in the public psyche in November 2022. She’s had a tough transition to Congress. I’m not sure we need to go to the wall on this right now,” one senior GOP lawmaker said. 

McCarthy and Greene are scheduled to meet in Washington this week. While McConnell’s remarks put more pressure on McCarthy to act accordingly, some GOP House members do not expect McCarthy to just kick out the Georgian lawmaker from her committees since she has the support of former President Donald Trump.

Greene’s growing controversies have become a burden to GOP leaders as Democrats try to make her the face of the Republican party.

Source: The Hill