Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) is demanding that House GOP leadership explain the recent selection of QAnon sympathizer and Sandy Hook Elementary massacre denier Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to a House committee dedicated to advancing education.
“House Republicans made this appointment and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy must explain how someone with this background represents the Republican party on education issues,” Scott, who serves as the Education and Labor Committee’s chairman, wrote in a scathing statement Thursday.
“He is sending a clear message to students, parents, and educators about the views of the Republican party,” Scott added.
The comments come as McCarthy faces increasing pressure to handle a growing problem with Greene, who has been widely criticized over reports that surfaced earlier this week that showed she had backed posts on social media that suggested the killing of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax.
Greene had also called the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a “false-flag” operation and heckled survivors of the shooting in a video that went viral this week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) condemned the move to select Greene for the committee as “appalling” during a news briefing on Wednesday.
“Assigning her to the Education Committee, when she has mocked the killing of little children,” Pelosi said, adding: “What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing. It’s absolutely appalling.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) similarly suggested that the House GOP leadership had done little to stop members of its caucus from advancing bogus theories or amplifying extremist views, chastising McCarthy for effectively abetting Greene, who endorsed the execution of Democrats in Congress.
“It increasingly seems, unfortunately, that in the House Republican caucus, Kevin McCarthy answers to these QAnon members of Congress, not the other way around.”
