House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) once again failed to respond strongly enough to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) appearance at a white nationalist event in which she also spoke.
The event featured white nationalists openly chanting the name of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as Ukraine remains under attack by his forces. The leader of the event also praised Putin and Adolf Hitler.
It should have been obvious to Greene where she was and who she was with, but she only claimed ignorance in response to the backlash.
McCarthy, of course, appeared to buy her pathetic explanation while also condemning her presence and participation.
“Last week I was just in Israel,” McCarthy said. “When I come back I see two colleagues who went and participated with a group that has a leader that many times gives anti-Semitic views, and led a chant for Putin. For me it was appalling and wrong.”
He went on to say that the Republican Party should not be associated with Anti-Semitism but did not mention white nationalism. He concluded by calling Greene’s actions “unacceptable.”
NEW. I just caught up with @GOPLeader on MTG, Gosar attending a white supremacist rally.
He said he plans to meet with @RepMTG this week.
“This is unacceptable.” pic.twitter.com/rw3U2MY50j
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 28, 2022
McCarthy will supposedly meet with Greene later, but as we have seen on multiple occasions, he will likely refuse to punish her in any way. He has no spine and it’s clear that white nationalists and Anti-Semites have taken over the GOP along with Russian sympathizers.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) ripped McCarthy a new one for not rebuking Greene strongly enough and pointed out that McCarthy’s failure to dole out consequences makes him partly to blame for the extremism in the GOP.
McCarthy has been protecting his little KKK Caucus for years with these toothless statements and meetings.
It’s how he covers for them.
He’s now helped them for so long they’ve escalated their open antisemitism & collaboration w/ white nationalist groups. He’s just as culpable. https://t.co/on4twfags5
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2022
AOC is not wrong. Republicans like McCarthy have refused to bring extremist members of the party in line, allowing them to say or do just about anything they want and get away with it, even promoting Nazis and siding with Putin against democracy. He has a chance to show AOC and the nation that he has a spine and can stand up to Greene. If he can’t, he’s not fit to be a leader of any kind.
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