- Hundreds of posts and comments on Facebook by Mr Taylor Greene revealed disturbing previous comments.
- A spokesman for the minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, told Axios he would have a conversation with Greene.
- The freshman legislator endorsed conspiracy theories that mass shootings were staged.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
The office of Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement to Axios on Tuesday night that he was aware of the “disturbing” comments that Representative Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene had made and / or endorsed before being elected to the Congress in 2020.
An analysis of hundreds of posts and comments on Greene’s Facebook page revealed his previous support and involvement with a number of far-right QAnon conspiracy theories.
Greene has repeatedly expressed support for the assassination of Democratic leaders on social media ahead of his time in office, liking a Facebook comment in 2019 that said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be “shot in the head.”
CNN reported that in February 2019, Greene broadcast a Facebook Live video from inside Pelosi’s office saying that the mayor “will suffer death or be arrested” for treason.
The freshman legislator would also have endorsed conspiracy theories that the Sandy Hook shooting, which killed 26 people, including 20 elementary school children, and the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, which left 17 dead, were both staged.
In 2018, Greene agreed with a Facebook commentator who suggested that 9/11 was an inside job, according to the progressive group Media Matters for America.
“These comments are deeply disturbing and leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them,” said Mark Bednar, McCarthy’s spokesman, Axios.
This is not the first time that McCarthy has had to deal with controversial comments from his ranks. In 2019, Iowa deputy Steve King was stripped of his committee duties after publicly questioning why terms like “white nationalism” and “white supremacy” became offensive.
King’s comments drew criticism from members of both parties, and McCarthy assured that he would take action against King after “having a serious conversation”.
In an August interview with The Dispatch, King said McCarthy’s “welcome” to Greene was a double standard.
After CNN reportedly contacted Greene for comment, she tweeted a statement saying that she has had teams managing her social media pages over the years.
“Many posts have been liked,” she said. “Many posts were shared. Some did not represent my opinions.”