Marjorie Taylor Greene tried very hard to distance herself from her racist, anti-Semitic and violent rhetoric and conspiracy theories in recent days, but that did little to stop a vote against her in the US House of Representatives on Thursday.
After debating whether to exile her from congressional committees, the House voted, 230-199, to strike the representative from Georgia after what felt like an endless stream of wild conspiracy theories surfaced in the wake of her unwavering support for Donald Trump, even after an unsuccessful coup attempt carried out in part by people who believe the same baseless QAnon conspiracy she’s supported.
As the New York Times reported, Greene is still very much a member of congress, but one effectively stripped of most duties beyond voting when the rest of the House does.
The vote effectively stripped Ms. Greene of her influence in Congress by banishing her from committees critical to advancing legislation and conducting oversight. Party leaders traditionally control the membership of the panels. While Democrats and Republicans have occasionally moved to punish their own members by stripping them of assignments, the majority has never in modern times moved to do so to a lawmaker in the other party.
As the story explains, this kind of punishment is usually carried out by a member’s own party. And Republicans did exactly that in 2018 when another representative said something offensive. But the party refused to condemn Greene, and many stood by her on Thursday.
In a speech she made before the vote, Greene attempted to undo her conspiracy theory advocacy by saying, in part, that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 “absolutely happened” and that school shootings were “absolutely real” after she had suggested that parts of both were staged. Videos of her stalking school shooting victims were given new attention in recent days, as did a number of her other posts on social media that have made her a star on the fringe of the right wing. Which is why there were plenty of people celebrating the decision on Twitter on Thursday, including other representatives.
Marjorie Taylor Green is a dangerous conspiracy theorist who should not be allowed near Congress, much less afforded the privilege of serving in it. This was clear long before she launched her campaign. And it should be even more obvious today.
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) February 4, 2021
11 Republicans showed courage and common sense today. The overwhelming majority of the House GOP Caucus, not so much. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now the face and voice of the House Republican Caucus. https://t.co/Bw2h9iwuRJ
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 5, 2021
There were also some stunning moments during the debate, including the reminder that Greene’s campaign once included her holding a rifle in imagery that targeted Democratic members of The Squad.
“They’re not ‘The Squad’ They’re Ilhan. They are Alexandria. And they’re Rashida. They are people. They are our colleagues … this is an AR-15” — Steny Hoyer printed out one of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s incendiary tweets pic.twitter.com/pXOmMtyrFs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 4, 2021
Which is why Cori Bush’s speech against Greene drew particular praise on Thursday.
‘We cannot build an equitable, anti-racist society if a member of Congress endorses white supremacy’ — Rep. Cori Bush called for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to be removed from her committee assignments, investigated, and expelled from Congress pic.twitter.com/W7wO2DXbLP
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 5, 2021
And despite the news that Greene saw consequences for her past comments, many reminded others that Greene is still in power. And also pointed out that her apology of sorts willfully forgets she was touting wild conspiracies as recently as days ago.
A reminder of the campaign style that Marjorie Taylor Greene ran. This was after her Democratic opponent dropped out of the race, battered and frightened by her conspiracy theory glorification and association with white supremacists. Source @washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/aBM0dE5g3S
— Parlertakes (@parlertakes) February 5, 2021
Marjorie Taylor Greene was a 40-something year old grown ass woman when she was posting and saying all sorts of crazy and violent stuff. “I was allowed to believe” is something a child would say. https://t.co/PWHR5ku3uc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2021
Liz Cheney voted for Marjorie Taylor Greene today. There is only one Republican Party, and it is the party of Trump and Jan. 6 and Q and bigotry and incompetence and cruelty.
They just keep reminding us of it over and over again.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) February 5, 2021