Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is blasting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) for a comparison she made between the Holocaust and the House’s mask mandate.
During an interview on Real America’s Voice, Greene claimed, “You know, we can look back at a time in history when people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany.”
“And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about,” she added in regards to the House mask mandate.
Cheney reacted to the interview in a tweet on Saturday morning, writing, “This is evil lunacy.”
Cheney was a member of House Republican leadership until recently when she was ousted after members grew frustrated with her criticism of former President Donald Trump.
This is evil lunacy. https://t.co/xHeUgbx7wa
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 22, 2021
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) also weighed in on Greene’s comments tweeting, “Absolute sickness.”
Absolute sickness. https://t.co/rdfulbPl75
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) May 22, 2021
And Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) told CNN’s Dana Bash that the Georgia Congresswoman’s comments were “beyond reprehensible.”
“This is — I don’t even have words to describe how disappointing it is to see this hyperbolic speech that, frankly amps up and plays into a lot of the anti-Semitism that we’ve been seeing in our society today. Vicious attacks on the streets of New York and in Los Angeles,” he added.
Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who has been critical of Greene, tweeted, “Comparing wearing masks to the abuse of the Holocaust is a not so subtle diminution of the horrors experienced by millions. It’s a grotesque idiocy mixed with a neurotic lack of self awareness. What do you expect from a truther, Q believer, and gaslighting conspiracy theorist?”
Comparing wearing masks to the abuse of the Holocaust is a not so subtle diminution of the horrors experienced by millions. It’s a grotesque idiocy mixed with a neurotic lack of self awareness.
— Denver Riggleman – Coalition of the Sane (@RepRiggleman) May 22, 2021
What do you expect from a truther, Q believer, and gaslighting conspiracy theorist? https://t.co/tkH1vIOAfb
Greene later told 12 News reporter Bianca Buono, “No one should be treated like a second-class citizen for saying ‘I don’t need to wear a mask,’ or saying that my medical records are my privacy based on my HIPAA rights, and so I stand by all of my statements.”
Lawmakers are still required to wear masks in the House chamber despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks indoors.
Earlier this year, House Democrats stripped Greene of her committee assignments over her adherence to conspiracy theories and apparent endorsement of violence against prominent Democrats. That move came after House Republicans decided against punishing her.