House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) slammed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as “totally out of control” and called out House Republicans for allowing her to represent them.
“The extreme MAGA Republicans are showing the American people who they are,” Jeffries said at this weekly press conference on Thursday. “They’re not even trying to hide their extremism. And Exhibit A is Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
“She’s totally out of control. But they don’t care,” he continued. “The leadership apparently supports Marjorie Taylor Greene. The rank-and-file Republicans apparently support Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s allowed to lie. She’s allowed to debase the institution. Apparently, Marjorie Taylor Greene is even allowed to elevate someone who appears to have engaged in espionage and treason against the United States of America.”
“And it doesn’t matter. Because Marjorie Taylor Greene is the face of this version of the House Republican conference,” he added.
Greene, a bombastic conspiracy theorist, on Wednesday was silenced by the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), after she unleashed a diatribe against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and baselessly accused Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) of having sex with a Chinese spy. Green was reportedly furious about the outburst.
Greene was also condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike last week for defending Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard charged with leaking classified military intelligence.
In January, during Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) drawn-out balloting for House speaker, Greene lashed out at Democrats for choosing Jeffries as their leader and released a “never Hakeem” ad calling him a “dangerous” and “radical” leftist. Greene was a key ally to McCarthy’s bid for the speakership and was subsequently appointed to the Homeland Security and Oversight and Accountability committees.