Upton censured for vote to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from Education Committee

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has been censured by Republicans in his local House district for his vote to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from her spot on the House Education Committee. 

“Tonight, the Cass County GOP censured me for voting to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the education committee, and in their resolution they stated that ‘her comments have not been out of line with anyone else’s comments.’ Really?” Upton tweeted.

“She taunted a Parkland school shooting survivor, argued that California wildfires were started by a Jewish space laser, accused Democratic politicians of running a pedophile ring out of a pizza parlor, and questioned whether 9/11 really happened.”

Upton asked if the local Republicans in Cass County, which voted heavily for former President Trump in both 2016 and 2020 “really think someone like that represents Republican values and should be serving on the education committee?”

She taunted a Parkland school shooting survivor, argued that California wildfires were started by a Jewish space laser, accused Democratic politicians of running a pedophile ring out of a pizza parlor, and questioned whether 9/11 really happened…

— Fred Upton #WearYourMask (@RepFredUpton) February 24, 2021

Upton was previously censured by the party for his vote to impeach Trump following a deadly riot carried out by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

“We believe Congressman Upton’s vote is a betrayal of his oath of office and core values of the Cass County Republican Party,” the resolution approved by the Cass County GOP’s Executive Committee said, according to the Detroit News. 

Following backlash over her controversial comments about school shootings and the QAnon conspiracy theory, Greene was stripped of her committee assignments. 

“If it weren’t for the Facebook post and comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn’t be standing here today and you couldn’t point a finger and accuse me of anything wrong,” Greene said on the House floor earlier this year. “I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true. I would ask questions about them and talk about them and that is absolutely what I regret.”

Upton said it should be up to the voters of Greene’s district to decide whether she be allowed to stay in Congress, but the House was right to remove her from her committee assignments. 

“I served on that committee and met with Columbine school shooting survivors,” he said. “I have since met with Parkland and Sandy Hook School shooting survivors and heard all of their personal stories. She should not be on the education committee, and Congress was right to remove her, period.”

Updated at 10:55 a.m. to clarify Upton’s remarks on Greene remaining in Congress.