Mitch McConnell says conspiracy theories are a 'cancer for the Republican Party'
By Charles Davis
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, has suggested that school shootings are "false flags" and that 9/11 was an inside job, while expressing support for executing top Democrats. But until Monday, leading members of her party had refused to explicitly condemn her — House Republicans, instead, appointed to her to a committee that oversees education policy.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, is expressing disgust. In a statement first reported by The Hill, the Kentucky Republican called the embrace of conspiracy theories a "cancer for the Republican Party."
McConnell fell short of calling for anyone to be expelled from Congress, with members of his Senate caucus having themselves embraced false claims of election fraud that helped stoke a riot at the US Capitol. But he did go further than most of his fellow Republicans.
"Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality," McConnell said, as reported by The Hill. "This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party."
A spokesperson for McConnell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats have been even more forceful in their condemnations. Last month, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a progressive from California, introduced a measure calling for Greene to be expelled from Congress.
The parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook mass shooting have also said Greene should not have a role in shaping the country's education policy.
On Monday, Democratic leaders gave their Republican counterparts an ultimatum: strip Greene of her committee assignments in the next 72 hours, or Democrats will do it themselves.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said that he plans to have "a conversation" with the lawmaker.