House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said QAnon believers are not welcome in the Republican Party.
The California Republican denounced the conspiracy theory, which has spread beyond the fringes of the internet into the mainstream, and challenged Democrats to do more to stand up against anti-Semitism during an interview Thursday.
“There is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party. I do not support it,” McCarthy said on Fox News at Night With Shannon Bream.
He also noted that the congressional candidate, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who in the past embraced the conspiracy theory that claims a secret group of Hollywood elites and Democrats run a child-trafficking ring and are seeking to undermine President Trump, has since distanced herself from QAnon.
“The candidate you talked about has denounced it,” he said of Greene without mentioning her by name. She is running for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, which is heavily red, so Green will likely be heading to Capitol Hill come January.
McCarthy also took shots at the Democratic Party and, in particular, liberal freshmen Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who have been accused of making anti-Semitic statements during their first terms in Congress.
“The real question will be when you look to the Democratic Party, to Tlaib or Omar. With the anti-Semitic comments, the Democrats would not stand up,” he said.
“When a member of the Republican Party said something that we believe is not about the party of Lincoln, we removed him from committee,” McCarthy stated, referencing GOP Rep. Steve King, who lost his committee assignments after questioning how it became controversial to use the terms “white nationalism” and “white supremacy.” During the ensuing controversy, King said he rejected the labels and the “evil” ideology they define. He has since lost his bid for another term in Congress.
“But the Democratic Party, not only can you be anti-Semitic, you can spend your campaign money giving to your husband,” he said of Omar, who has paid nearly $900,000 to her husband’s consulting firm since he began working for her in 2018. “I don’t think those things are right.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been to provide additional context surrounding the comments Rep. Steve King made about white nationalism and white supremacy.
