Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene compared the Biden administration’s COVID-19 policy to Nazi-era practices Tuesday, just weeks after publicly apologizing for statements equating mask mandates to labeling Jews with the Star of David.
In response to President Biden’s calls for hyperlocal COVID vaccination outreach Tuesday, the Georgia Republican likened the practice to intimidation methods carried out by a Nazi-era paramilitary organization referred to as Brownshirts.
“Biden pushing a vaccine that is NOT FDA approved shows covid is a political tool used to control people,” Ms. Greene tweeted. “People have a choice, they don’t need your medical brown shirts showing up at their door ordering vaccinations. You can’t force people to be part of the human experiment.”
The comments were in response to Mr. Biden’s remarks about the administration’s COVID response and vaccination program.
“We need to go community-by-community, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and oft-times door-to-door, literally knocking on doors” to get people vaccinated, Mr. Biden said in an appearance Tuesday outlining his administration’s vaccination policy.
In May, Ms. Greene sparked outrage by making a similar comparison during a podcast interview in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s requirement that members of Congress wear masks on the House floor.
“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,” Ms. Greene said. “And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.”
Shortly thereafter Ms. Greene made a similar comparison in response to an article about a grocery store that began identifying staff with a vaccination logo on name badges as part of their policy for discontinuing mask mandates.
“Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazis forced Jewish people to wear a gold star,” she tweeted.
The comments were loudly condemned by Jewish groups and her colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in June, Ms. Greene held a press event in front of the Capitol to publicly apologize for the comments after visiting the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The American Jewish Congress also issued a statement Wednesday condemning her remarks.
“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) continues to prove that there is no limit to her brutal trivialization of the Holocaust for her own personal political power,” they said. “The Holocaust and Jewish suffering is not a prop for her delusional views comparing efforts to save lives through vaccines with the most heinous, systematic state-sponsored slaughter of millions of innocent victims. Yet here she goes again, demonstrating her unfitness to serve in the U.S. Congress.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also responded to Ms. Greene’s comments Wednesday on CNN’s ‘New Day.’
“We don’t take any of our health and medical advice from Marjorie Taylor Greene, so I can assure everyone of that” Ms. Psaki told host John Berman.
Ms. Greene doubled down in response.
“Actually Jen, people should take some health advice from me,” she tweeted, claiming that she had helped “countless” people improve their health as a gym owner.
“So when Biden’s vaccine police show up at your door to ask you medical questions that invade your HIPPAA rights and try to force you to take a NON-FDA approved vaccines say this: I’m taking advice from MTG!”
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.