House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to have a "conversation" with freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after she expressed support for killing Democrats and spread conspiracy theories on social media before and after joining Congress.
Greene "repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians" in 2018 and 2019, CNN reported on Tuesday, and discussed an outlandish conspiracy theory alleging that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was recorded killing a child in a satanic ritual and wearing her face like a mask in Facebook comments flagged by Media Matters. The Georgia lawmaker, who came under fire during her campaign for supporting the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, also drew condemnation last week when Media Matters found Facebook comments in which she agreed that the 2018 Parkland school shooting was a fake "false flag" event and that 9/11 was an inside job.
The reports drew calls for Greene's resignation or ouster from Congress. Axios likened the scandal to the one that effectively ended former Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King's political career after he defended "white nationalism" and "white supremacy" in a 2019 interview.
But while McCarthy stripped King of his committee assignments following those comments, his spokesman said the Republican leader currently only has plans to have a talk with Greene.
"These comments are deeply disturbing and Leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them," spokesman Mark Bednar told CNN.
Greene has not denied the reports but claimed in a statement posted to Twitter that "teams of people" had posted and liked posts using her personal Facebook account and accused "Fake News CNN" of citing "posts from random users to try to cancel me and silence my voice."
"Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet," she wrote.
A growing number of Democrats have called for Greene to be removed from Congress.
"So you aren't denying you … called for the deaths of political leaders, you aren't taking responsibility, you aren't apologizing, you aren't even saying it was wrong," Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said on Twitter. "You're just blaming others. Your conduct does not reflect creditably on the House, and you should resign."
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., added, "If Members wearing overcoats are not allowed on the floor of The United States House of Representatives, why would we allow those who've liked posts calling for the execution of fellow elected officials?"
CNN's review of Greene's Facebook history found that she liked a January 2019 comment that said "a bullet to the head would be quicker" than impeachment as a way of removing Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She also liked comments about executing FBI agents who were investigating former President Donald Trump, comments calling for top Democrats to be hanged, and a comment calling for "civil war 2.0," according to the report. Greene also liked another post flagged by Media Matters alleging that Democratic leaders were using the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program "for human trafficking pedophilia in high places and organ harvesting," echoing some of the unfounded claims popular in the QAnon movement.
A user asked Greene whether "we get to hang" former President Barack Obama and Clinton over the Iran nuclear deal. "Stage is being set," Greene replied, according to screenshots published by the outlet. "Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off."
She also suggested in 2019 that Pelosi should be executed for treason for her support of sanctuary city policies in videos posted to Facebook.
"It's a crime punishable by death is what treason is," she said in one video. "Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason."
Another live video recorded from Pelosi's office in 2019 showed Greene saying the speaker would "suffer death or she'll be in prison" for her "treason." She said in another video later that day that Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was "just as guilty of treason as Nancy Pelosi."
Greene also discussed the unhinged "Frazzledrip" conspiracy theory, which is linked to QAnon and the Pizzagate conspiracy theories, which claims that there is a video showing a satanic ritual in which Clinton and former top aide Huma Abedin cut off a child's face, wore it as a mask and drank her blood.
"Yes familia," she wrote in response to a user who discussed the video as proof of "another hillary hit," referring to the long-running right-wing conspiracy theory that Clinton has had her enemies murdered.
"I post things sometimes to see who knows things," Greene wrote in another comment on the post. "Most the time people don't. I'm glad to see your comment. I've decided it's time to start doing a lot more videos and engage further in the fight. Most people honestly don't know so much. The [mainstream media] disinformation warfare has won for too long!"
Earlier this month, Media Matters surfaced comments in which Greene agreed that the Parkland school shooting, which killed 17 people, was a "false flag" event.
"I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that 'we need another school shooting' in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control," she wrote in 2018.
In another post, a user alleged that former Broward County sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson, who failed to enter the school during the shooting, received a retirement pension as a "payoff to keep his mouth shut since it was a false flag planned shooting." Greene replied: "Exactly."
"Paid to do what he did and keep his mouth shut!" she wrote in another comment.
Fred Guttenberg, the father of slain 14-year-old Parkland victim Jaime Guttenberg, resurfaced a video on Wednesday that was recorded in 2019 showing Greene heckling Parkland survivor David Hogg while he was on his way to testify before Congress.
Media Matters also flagged posts in which Greene appears to agree that the 9/11 attacks were perpetrated by the U.S. government and falsely claims there was no evidence that a plane crashed into the Pentagon on that day.
Greene, who has only been in Congress a few weeks, also pushed Trump's conspiracy theory that the election was stolen despite zero evidence and referred to Jan. 6 as "our 1776 moment." Days after the deadly Capitol attack, she used her Twitter account to call Democrats "the enemies of the American people" and vowed that "they will be held accountable."
Twitter last week temporarily suspended her account after she posted a video in which she continued to push the unfounded stolen-election conspiracy theory, but has since reinstated her.
Despite calls from Democrats and gun control groups for Greene to resign, she is set to join the House Education and Labor Committee, as well as the Budget Committee. It's unclear whether the Republican Party will withdraw either committee assignment after McCarthy's "conversation." McCarthy previously said he had a talk with Greene after she claimed to have filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden days after he took office, based on debunked conspiracy theories about Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's overseas business dealings.
Greene, who says she condemns all violence, has faced calls to resign since days after he was sworn in.
"You believe in #QAnon. A batshit crazy conspiracy," Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., wrote days after QAnon adherents played a major role in the Capitol riot. "You have no credibility. You're unfit for public office. Resign."
Gomez said on Wednesday that he will introduce a resolution to "investigate and expel" Greene.
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