Marjorie Taylor Greene Likens Nancy Pelosi’s Mask Mandate to the Holocaust

How low can she go?

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouts at journalists.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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It’s no secret that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is willing to do almost anything to get under Democrats’ skin, from harassing House colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to posting a transphobic poster across from the office of colleague Marie Newman, who has a trans daughter. But this week, she may have hit a new low by comparing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mandate that all members wear masks on the chamber floor to the Nazi’s treatment of Jews during the Holocaust.

During an appearance on a conservative podcast, “The Water Cooler,” Greene took aim at Pelosi, calling her a hypocrite for asking Republican members to provide proof of their vaccinations before entering the House chamber maskless. “You know, we can look back at a time in history where 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 said. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.”

Back in 2018, Greene speculated that California’s worsening wildfires had been set deliberately by a Jewish-owned space laser. Which is to say that she has a history of antisemitic behavior. Her outrageous comments were called out by Democratic legislators and watchdog groups, among others.

“You can never compare health-related restrictions with yellow stars, gas chambers & other Nazi atrocities,” noted the American Jewish Congress, which called on Greene to apologize.

Instead, she spent the better part of her Saturday tweeting at AOC for criticizing America’s weapons deals with Israel. 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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