Scott J. Applewhite/AP
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced Kevin McCarthy as “McCarthy (Q-CA)” on Wednesday.
- Democrats are seeking to tie the GOP to the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory.
- McCarthy, the House minority leader, has faced criticism for his leadership.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as “McCarthy (Q-CA)” in a Wednesday press release as House Democrats seek to portray their Republican colleagues as beholden to adherents of the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory.
McCarthy has faced criticism from Democrats for failing to take action to punish controversial freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Greene has publicly endorsed numerous elements of the QAnon conspiracy theory and others like it on social media, including suggesting that multiple mass shootings were hoaxes and false flags, that Democratic lawmakers including Pelosi should be executed, and even that Hillary Clinton and one of her aides killed a child to drink its blood and wear its face as a mask.
—Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) February 3, 2021
"After several conversations and literally running away from reporters, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Q-CA) made clear that he is refusing to take action against conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene," Pelosi's statement began.
"As a result, the House will continue with a vote to strip Greene of her seat on the esteemed House Committee on Education & Labor and House Committee on Budget. McCarthy's failure to lead his party effectively hands the keys over to Greene - an anti-Semite, QAnon adherent and 9/11 Truther," Pelosi's statement, which cited condemnations of Greene from other GOP lawmakers, continued.
"In Speaker Boehner's office, we referred to this kind of pettiness as 'punching down,'" McCarthy's digital communications director Caleb Smith said on Twitter in response to Pelosi's statement. "It's beneath the dignity of the office she holds and does nothing to solve a single problem in Americans' lives. But hey-anything to drive clicks and screenshots!"
After meeting with Greene on Tuesday, McCarthy released a public statement on Wednesday denouncing Greene's social media postings. "I condemn those comments unequivocally," he said. "I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today."
On Wednesday afternoon, the House Rules Committee gathered to debate a resolution on whether to expel Greene from her two committee assignments, with a vote planned for Thursday.
McCarthy did not go as far as to say that he supported stripping Greene of her committee assignments, and instead criticized Democrats for "choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party."
Separately, in a Republican caucus meeting, GOP leaders decided not to take any immediate action on Greene, Punchbowl News reported.