Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took sides in the two major battles in the House Republican conference this week that could influence the direction of the post-Trump Republican Party: pro-Liz Cheney, anti-Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In a rare scathing statement, McConnell said that Greene’s embrace of conspiracy theories is a “cancer for the Republican Party.”
The statement from the Kentucky Republican, which did not mention the Georgia freshman congresswoman by name, comes as Greene is facing calls to be stripped of committee assignments or removed from Congress altogether in light of resurfaced comments and social media interactions.
“Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country. 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,” McConnell said in a statement, obtained by the Hill. “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”
At the same time, McConnell also in a statement showed support for Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican facing calls to step down or be removed from her leadership position after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection.”
“Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,” McConnell said. “She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation.”
Controversies surrounding each of the Republican women are set to come to a showdown among the caucus when House Republicans convene for a meeting on Wednesday morning.
Greene’s history of embracing conspiracy theories got renewed attention last week following a report that her Facebook page “liked” a 2019 post saying that “a bullet to the head” would be a “quicker” way to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has also suggested that there was no evidence that a plane actually crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory before distancing herself from it, and engaged in false flag theories about school shootings.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is set to talk to Greene this week, but some Republicans and many Democrats say that she should be removed from committees or from Congress altogether.
“If Democrats remove me from my committees, I can assure them that the precedent they are setting will be used extensively against members on their side once we regain the majority after the 2022 elections,” Greene wrote in one of more than a two dozen tweets Monday. “And we will regain the majority, make no mistake about that,” she added.
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, appears to have embraced Greene. The congresswoman tweeted this week that she had a call with Trump and said she is planning to have an in-person meeting with him soon.
Many Republicans are reluctant to take action against Greene or publicly condemn her. Some of her most outrageous statements were made before she was a member of Congress and, in some cases, before she was a candidate. Her comments were made public during the campaign, and she was elected anyway.
That makes her different from former Iowa Rep. Steve King, who was stripped of his committee assignments in 2019 after he seemed to wonder when “white supremacist” and “white nationalist” became offensive terms. He later lost the primary to be renominated for reelection to his seat after his comments sparked several challengers.
