Rep. Jimmy Gomez wants Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene booted from Congress.
The California Democrat announced on Wednesday that he planned to introduce a resolution to oust the conspiracy-theory-peddling Republican from Georgia after recent news reports revealed that Greene had previously called for violence against Democrats on social media.
A two-thirds majority is required to expel a member from the House, meaning Gomez’s resolution is almost certain to fail in a chamber where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority. Still, the measure is one of the starkest rebukes yet against the congress member, who has antagonized her peers by flouting coronavirus guidelines and has garnered national attention for engaging in the QAnon conspiracy theory. She has also denied the Parkland school shooting, and was filmed spreading racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic comments, prompting condemnation from the leadership of her own party.
CNN on Tuesday unveiled a series of Greene’s past social media posts from as recently as 2019 that called for executing Democrats and federal law enforcement officers. In one comment, she said that “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to get rid of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Such advocacy for extremism and sedition not only demands her immediate expulsion from Congress, but it also merits strong and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,” Gomez said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
He continued: “Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government, and it is with their safety in mind, as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body.”
Greene’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in response to CNN’s reporting, she tweeted out a statement claiming that she’d had “teams of people” managing her social media accounts and that some posts “did not represent my views.” She then went on a diatribe in which she labeled CNN “Fake News.”
Gomez had previously called for Greene’s removal from the House after a violent mob of rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a siege that resulted in the deaths of at least five people. Several rioters said they were motivated to attack by then-President Donald Trump’s monthslong campaign to discredit the results of the 2020 election. Greene, who is an ardent Trump supporter, went on to join the majority of the Republican caucus in voting to challenge the election results, even though election officials and courts across the country have refuted claims of widespread irregularities and fraud.