Why it matters: Greene and Gosar can attend as many white supremacist conferences as their hearts desire, safe in the knowledge there’s nothing they need from leadership — and nothing left for leadership to take from them.
- They’ve already been stripped of their committees. They have zero need or interest in leadership’s endorsements or money. And their power actually comes from offending Republican leadership in Washington.
Behind the scenes: Greene has long gloated she’s immune to punishment byHouse Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. That’s true even after she and Gosar appeared at a gathering of white nationalists hosted by the outspoken Holocaust denier, antisemitic, homophobic and racist activist Nick Fuentes.
In 2019, GOP leadership stripped then-Rep. Steve King of Iowa of his committee assignments for making comments sympathetic to white nationalists. Now, though, there’s nothing available to take away from Greene or Gosar.
- “MTG [Marjorie Taylor Greene] is worse than Steve King,” said a senior Republican aide.
What they’re saying: Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) said their attendance at the white nationalist event was a “huge mistake” that “confirms what people like to say about us, which I believe is generally untrue.”
The bottom line: McCarthy said Monday that Greene’s and Gosar’s appearances at the white nationalist conference were “appalling and wrong,” but he’s made clear he won’t publicly say anything more about the subject.