Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.Photo: Dustin Chambers/Getty
Georgia Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greenesays she will “continue [her] stand” against mask mandates meant to stop the spread ofCOVID-19, despite racking up $48,000 in fines for not wearing a mask on the House floor.
Greene, 47, has been fined for violating the House of Representative’s mask policy 20 times, according to a letter from the House Sergeant at Arms sent to her office Oct. 28.
Greene “was first warned about non-compliance with the mask rule on May 18, then observed not wearing a mask on May 19, her first official violation,” according to the letter.
The mandate was enacted as a pandemic precaution; infections have spread through Congress as they have the rest of the country (and some conservative lawmakers have said they won’t get vaccinated, saying they previously recovered from the virus.)
Earlier this year, a Texas representative died of complications from COVID-19.
According to House rules, Greene was fined $500 for her first offense after her warning and $2,500 for each subsequent offense.
CNN reports that the fines come out of her salary.
While Greene has worn masks in the past — often opting for coverings emblazoned with words like “Trump won” and “Censored” — she has more recently been photographed without one. And she’s likely to continue that trend.
She continued in the statement: “Now, the American people have had enough and are standing up against these outrageous and unconstitutional policies. I will continue my stand on the House floor against authoritarian Democrat mandates, because I don’t want the American people to stand alone.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Greene, a provocative and often controversial politician, has become more and more opposed to the House requirement that all members wear a mask inside Congress.
Greene added then that people were “put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany” and that “this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.”
“I’m truly sorry for offending people with remarks about the Holocaust,” Greene said. “There’s no comparison and there never ever will be.”
“Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star,” Greene — who has not publicly said whether or not she has been vaccinated — tweeted, comparing the logo to the identifying stars Jews were forced to wear.
“Vaccine passports & mask mandates create discrimination against unvaxxed people who trust their immune systems,” she wrote.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.C.B. Schmelter/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP
Prior to her taking office, somefellow GOP membersin the House of Representatives told PEOPLE they were wary of working with Greene. One former Republican warned: “If you stick your toe into crazy, it could infect the whole body.”
While Greene has sponsored a mix of GOP-friendly bills so far in the House, including protections for gun possession and a call to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci (which went nowhere with the Democratic majority) she has also made provocation a central part of her political brand.
She’s gotten intoconfrontationswith fellow lawmakers and was booted from House committees due to the activity on her social media, including a “liked” Facebook comment that called for “a bullet to the head” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
source: people.com
