United States Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene attended and spoke before a meeting of white nationalists who expressed their support for Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukraine crisis, prompting criticism from fellow GOP members.
The leader of the Republican National Committee, chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, was among those who expressed their disappointment in Greene. She said that White supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech, and bigotry were disgusting things that did not have a home in the Republican party.
White Nationalist Conference
In defense of her appearance at the conference, Greene, who is currently barred from sitting on congressional committees due to her previous extremist comments, said she was not aware of the views of the delegates but did not make an apology for being at the event.
In a Twitter post, the Republican said she refused to be led into the "guilt by association game in which you demand every conservative should justify anything ever said by anyone they've ever shared a room with." The official said that she talked about God and Liberty during the conference.
Greene added that she was not going to turn down the opportunity to speak to roughly 1,200 young America First patriots because of a few off-color remarks by another speaker. The Georgia Republican appeared in Orlando at the America First Political Action Conference on Friday night, as per USA Today.
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney also shared his discontent with GOP members who attended the White nationalist event and those who openly supported Putin. In an interview, the official said there was no place in either political party for White nationalism or racism, calling them simply wrong and evil.
The GOP member referred to Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar when making his remarks and cited an old movie he watched with the line, "Morons, I've got morons on my team." He argued that any person willing to sit down with White nationalists and speak at their events was missing a few IQ points.
According to CNN, Romney's comments followed Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney's criticism of Greene and Gosar for their appearance at the conference. Furthermore, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who is also a member of the House Select Committee along with Cheney, also had his say.
Criticism From Other Republicans
Other Republicans who attended the conference include former Congressman Steve King of Iowa, taken off the U.S. House committees for racist remarks, and Idaho Lieutenant Gov. Janice McGeachin. Video footage of the event was released that showed the organizer, Nick Fuentes, attendees cheering for Putin and approving comparisons between the Russian president and German Dictator Adolf Hitler.
In response to Greene's attendance at the conference, the Republican Jewish Coalition quickly denounced the official's attendance on Saturday. They called her and Gosar's attendance "appalling and outrageous."
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, while criticizing "racial politics," also said he completely disagrees with Greene's attendance at the conference. In an interview, he said that everyone should be given the same opportunities, Yahoo News reported.
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