House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy will sit down with the controversial lawmaker next week.
House GOP leaders are facing mounting pressure to take action against freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), with key outside groups calling on party officials to condemn her and House Democrats pushing for Greene’s removal from Congress or committees. Amid the firestorm, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will sit down for a conversation with Greene next week, his office said. But whether McCarthy decides to punish Greene will depend on how that meeting goes. McCarthy had a similar face-to-face meeting in 2019 with former Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) after he defended white nationalism in an interview with the New York Times. The Iowa Republican showed little remorse during their interaction, and shortly afterward, McCarthy booted King from his committees. And so far, Greene has remained publicly defiant: “I will never back down. I will never give up,” she said in a statement Friday. Greene has, however, started to scrub some of her old social media posts. The controversy surrounding Greene — who has espoused racist views, dabbled in QAnon conspiracy theories, and questioned the veracity of some of the nation’s deadliest and most tragic school shootings — has swirled in recent days as offensive videos and comments from before her time in Congress have continued to surface. The timing of Greene’s comments — which also appear to take place before the start of her 2020 campaign — have complicated efforts to sanction her. The Republican Jewish Coalition, as well as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, both put out statements Friday condemning Greene’s rhetoric.
