Cheney calls Greene’s comments on House mask policy ‘evil lunacy’

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Saturday became the latest lawmaker to condemn Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for comparing Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) mask policy on the House floor to the Holocaust. 

“This is evil lunacy,” Cheney tweeted Saturday morning, along with a clip of Greene’s Friday interview on Real America’s Voice. During the segment, Greene also argued that Pelosi was “mentally ill.” 

“You know, we can look back at a time in history when people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,” Greene added in the interview. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.” 

This is evil lunacy. https://t.co/xHeUgbx7wa

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 22, 2021

Cheney’s response comes after Greene and other GOP lawmakers pushed for the Wyoming congresswoman to be removed from her position as House Republican Conference chairwoman. 

House Republicans eventually voted to boot Cheney from her leadership post earlier this month after she repeatedly criticized former President Trump over his unsupported claims of voter fraud. 

Following her ouster, Cheney doubled down on her criticism of Trump, telling reporters that she would do everything in her power to keep Trump from winning another term in the White House. 

Greene, who was removed from her House committees earlier this year over her past support for conspiracy theories and posts that advocated for violence against Democratic leaders, has received bipartisan criticism over her Friday remarks on Pelosi’s mask policy. 

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) tweeted Friday evening, “Comparing wearing masks to the abuse of the Holocaust is a not so subtle diminution of the horrors experienced by millions. It’s a grotesque idiocy mixed with a neurotic lack of self awareness.” 

Meanwhile, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who is Jewish, tweeted, “The Holocaust: The systematic murder of 6 million Jews. Mask-wearing: A simple act that costs you nothing and saves lives. Marjorie Taylor Greene: A troubled person who is unfit to serve in Congress.” 

The American Jewish Congress also pushed back on Greene’s remarks, tweeting, “You can never compare health-related restrictions with yellow stars, gas chambers & other Nazi atrocities.” 

The organization called on the Georgia congresswoman to “immediately retract and apologize” for her comments. 

Greene was one of seven Republicans this week given a formal warning by the House sergeant-at-arms for refusing to comply with the mask mandate on the House floor. 

The policy still stands despite updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stating that individuals who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer have to wear face coverings in most settings. 

Democrats have supported keeping the mask requirement in place, noting that several GOP House members have not yet gotten the vaccine.