California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, described his colleagues speaking at a white nationalist conference “appalling and wrong” on Monday.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar have been criticized for days after speaking at the America First Political Action Conference in Orlando. The event was organized by white-nationalist firebrand Nick Fuentes, a prominent attendee of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville.
According to reports, Greene spoke at the event in person. Gosar, who attended the event last year, spoke in a prerecorded video.
Prior to her speech, Fuentes led a crowd in some pro-Putin chanting.
“Now they’re going on about Russia and Vladimir Putin is Hitler — they say that’s not a good thing,” Fuentes said.
According to CNN, McCarthy said that introduction should have clued Greene into what was happening, if her claims of not knowing Fuentes’ background is accurate.
“With that introduction, you should have walked off stage,” McCarthy said. “The party should not be associated, any time, any place, with somebody who is antisemitic.”
Greene defended herself to CBS News on Sunday, describing the attacks against her as “identity politics” and an attempt to “cancel” her.
In the past, Greene has described the deadly 2018 Parkland school shooting as a hoax and compared measures to slow the spread of coronavirus to the Holocaust.
McCarthy’s comments echoed ones made earlier Monday by Sen. Mitch McConnell.
“There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or antisemitism,” the Kentucky senator said in a statement.
Fellow Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was even more direct in his assessment of Greene and Gosar.
“Morons. I have morons on my team,” Romney said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“There’s no place in either political party for this white nationalism or racism. It’s simply wrong,” Romney said.
According to Politico, the two House members are becoming increasingly isolated in the GOP.
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