Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) does not approve of the way House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) addressed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green’s (R-Ga.) past comments and actions.
He told CNN’s Ali Zaslav, “I think it was a mistake.”
Romney also said, “I wish he would have” taken a stronger stand.
Sen. Mitt Romney told @alizaslav that House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy made a "mistake" in his handling of Marjorie Taylor Greene.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 4, 2021
"I think it was a mistake," Romney said. "I wish he would have" taken a stronger stand.
McCarthy appeared to condemn her comments in a statement on Wednesday but seemingly stood by her.
“Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference,” McCarthy said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed her disappointment in McCarthy over his failure to take action against Greene, as IJR reported.
“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 wrote in a statement.
She continued, “McCarthy’s failure to lead his party effectively hands the keys over to Greene – an anti-Semite, QAnon adherent and 9/11 Truther.”
Romney railed against Greene and called on the Republican Party to distance itself from the lawmaker, as IJR reported.
“We should have nothing to do with Marjorie Taylor Greene. We should repudiate the things she said and move away from her,” Romney said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
He added, “Our long history as a party has shown we should separate ourselves from people in the wacky weeds. If we don’t, then our opposition tries to brand us with their image and with their point of view, which has been detrimental to any party that doesn’t do that.”
The House is expected to vote on Thursday to decide whether to strip Greene of her committee assignments.
Ahead of vote, Greene took to the House floor to address her previous false claims and admit “school shootings are absolutely real” and “9/11 absolutely happened.”
