McCarthy blasts Greene for Holocaust comments

U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy denounced fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday for comparing the wearing of COVID-19 masks to the Holocaust.

This report produced by Jonah Green.

U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy denounced fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday for repeatedly comparing COVID-19 safety protocols to the Holocaust.

It was a rare intra-party rebuke by McCarthy, who has been hesitant to criticize allies of former President Donald Trump.

In a statement McCarthy wrote that, "Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling.

The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history.

The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling.” The Republican leader didn’t suggest any disciplinary action.

His statement followed a Tuesday morning rant on Twitter by Greene in which she commented on an article about a grocery store identifying its vaccinated employees: "Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s [sic] forced Jewish people to wear a gold star." After McCarthy's statement she tweeted, “I’m sorry some of my words make people uncomfortable." It's the latest eruption among Republicans in the House, where McCarthy and other party leaders have sought to forge unity after ousting Representative Liz Cheney from her No.

3 leadership role for denouncing Trump's false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Earlier this year McCarthy and the House Republican caucus refused to take action against Taylor Greene for her prior incendiary remarks.

When the party declined to act, the House did, with 11 Republicans joining Democrats in the February vote stripping her of her committee assignments.