QAnon-linked US Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene stripped of her committee assignments

The US House has tossed Marjorie Taylor Greene off her committees, a punishment Democrats say she earned by spreading hateful and violent conspiracy theories.

In this Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, file photo, Marjorie Taylor Greene wears a "Trump Won" face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House

In this Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, file photo, Marjorie Taylor Greene wears a "Trump Won" face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House Source: Reuters

The US House of Representatives has voted to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of two high-profile committee assignments on Thursday, punishing the Republican congresswoman for incendiary remarks that included support for violence against Democrats.

In a test of unity for a House Republican caucus riven by division, nearly 95 per cent of Republicans voted to oppose the punishment after made before she entered office but failed to apologise.

Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in a 230-199 vote to approve the Democratic-backed resolution, which stripped Ms Greene of her seats on the House budget committee and the House education and labour committee.

"I have never encountered a situation like the one before us now, where a member has made such vile and hurtful statements, engaged in the harassment of colleagues and expressed support for political violence," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said before the vote on Thursday.

"This is not about party. It's about whether or not you will vote for decency and truth."
The vote to punish Ms Greene, a first-term lawmaker from Georgia and ally of former president Donald Trump, came a day after the chamber's Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, opted not to reprimand her.

Republicans mainly attacked the resolution as a "partisan power grab" by Democrats and warned that punishing lawmakers for statements made before they entered office would set a dangerous precedent.

Hours before the vote, Ms Greene disavowed some of her previous statements.

"These were words of the past and these things do not represent me, they do not represent my (congressional) district and they do not represent my values," Ms Greene told the House.
Before taking office last month, Ms Greene voiced support for an array of unfounded conspiracy theories including the QAnon one that holds that elite Democrats are part of a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals.

According to CNN, Ms Greene expressed support online for executing prominent Democrats including Nancy Pelosi.

Ms Greene, 46, embraced his false claim that he won the 3 November election, alleged that deadly US school shootings were staged, suggested a space laser was used to deliberately start a California wildfire and questioned whether a plane struck the Pentagon in the 2001 attacks on the United States.

In her speech, Ms Greene disavowed belief in the QAnon theory and acknowledged school shootings really happened and the 11 September attacks did occur.


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3 min read
Published 5 February 2021 11:27am
Updated 5 February 2021 11:43am
Source: AAP


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