- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took aim at a fellow House Republican.
- Greene was angry that Rep. Chip Roy of Texas opposed her effort to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday lashed out at a fellow Republican, Rep. Chip Roy, for opposing her effort to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Greene had accused Tlaib of being antisemitic and refusing to adequately condemn Hamas following its surprise terrorist attack against Israelis on October 7.
"Until you force the enemies to live by the same rules, they're going to keep stomping our faces in the pavement," Greene of Georgia wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Chip Roy will be reciting his powdered wig soliloquies as Americans are marched to the firing squads."
She also called the Texan "Colonel Sanders," told him to "shut up," and accused him of being part of the "Unity Party," a reference to the claim that Democrats and Republicans unite in many policy eras to the determent of the nation. It's an odd attack, considering Roy and Greene share many similar views. In case that wasn't enough, Greene later added a screenshot of the definition of "feckless."
In response to Greene's repeated barbs, Roy, a Texas lawmaker who once worked as Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's chief of staff, told the Hill's Mychael Schnell, "Tell her to go chase so-called Jewish space lasers if she wants to spend time on that sort of thing." Roy's retort is a reference to Greene's history of antisemitic remarks, including pushing a conspiracy theory before she was elected to Congress that a Jewish space laser caused a devastating California wildfire.
Greene is clearly upset that her fellow House Republicans did not push through her resolution that would have meted out the chamber's second-highest punishment on Tlaib.
—Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) November 1, 2023
Twenty-three Republicans, including Roy, voted against the resolution moving forward. Of the 23, some were more vulnerable lawmakers, such as Rep. John Duarte of California, but many were staunch conservatives, such as Roy. Roy belongs to the far-right House Freedom Caucus, a group that Greene also joined before she was kicked out earlier this year. In a separate post, Greene went after Roy for her ouster, saying the group did not boot out "CNN wannabe Ken Buck and vaping groping Lauren Boebert." (Boebert, whom Greene has feuded with, voted in favor of moving the resolution forward, but Buck, a Colorado Republican, did not.)
Roy said he voted against the censure because the resolution accused Tlaib of participating in "an insurrection." Greene, whose resolution was inaccurate on some other accounts, was referencing a large October 19 protest that was both inside and outside the Capitol. Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, addressed the crowd outside.
"Rep. Rashida Tlaib has repeatedly made outrageous remarks toward Israel and the Jewish people. Her conduct is unbecoming of a member of Congress and certainly worthy of condemnation - if not censure," Roy said in a statement after his vote. "However, tonight's feckless resolution to censure Tlaib was deeply flawed and made legally and factually unverified claims, including the claim of leading an 'insurrection.'"
Some conservatives have tried to argue protests are insurrections as a way to undermine criticism of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Roy said by stretching the term insurrection, Greene was continuing to undermine those who have opposed labeling the January 6 attack as an insurrection.
Practically speaking, censures mean very little, but officially, there have been only 25 lawmakers who received the House's deep disapproval in the chamber's history. If a resolution is passed, the House speaker or the presiding officer summons the offending member to the House floor and then reads off the resolution as they stand and listen to their admonishment. The only punishment that goes above a censure is expelling a member of Congress.
Tlaib said Greene's resolution was "deeply Islamophobic" and made clear she would not change her approach.