Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene faced renewed calls for her removal from Congress after one of the country’s largest Muslim advocacy groups came across a video she filmed in 2019.
Members of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) argued in a statement Monday that the resurfaced clip of the Georgia Republican remarking about a Muslim woman warrants her expulsion.
The footage cited by CAIR appears in a nearly 90-minute video that was broadcast live on Facebook by Ms. Greene in April 2019 but later removed from her page on the social networking service. It was filmed in and around a public library in her hometown of Alpharetta, Georgia, as it was hosting a “Drag Time Story Hour” event she opposed.
In the video, Ms. Greene briefly shows a Muslim woman dressed in an Islamic headscarf, or hijab, and quietly states: “I want to show you something. See that right there? Our library is full of that.”
“Such racist and Islamophobic conduct should not be tolerated by a member of Congress who must represent a diverse population made up of citizens of all faiths and backgrounds,” said Abdullah Jaber, executive director of CAIR’s Georgia chapter. “Her racist and Islamophobic comments have no place in our most important institution of government, which should work to represent a diverse society.”
Huzaifa Shahbaz, CAIR’s national research and advocacy coordinator, concurred: “Congress should immediately take the necessary steps to expel her. Her racist and Islamophobic comments have no place in our most important institution of government, which should work to represent a diverse society.”
Ms. Greene was elected in November to represent Georgia’s 14th Congressional District and officially entered office in early January. She has since faced several calls for her removal from Congress, including previously by CAIR, which sought her expulsion after it was revealed earlier this year that she had reacted favorably to Facebook posts about killing prominent elected Democrats.
The House subsequently voted in early February to strip Ms. Greene of her assignments on two congressional committees. It was supported by all Democrats and 11 Republicans.
Nick Dyer, a communications director for Ms. Greene, characterized CAIR’s latest call for the congresswoman’s expulsion as a “yet another absurd attack” from a left-wing fundraising organization.
“Democrat activist groups like this accuse every Republican of actions that they themselves are guilty,” Mr. Dyer told The Washington Times. “These activists need to look in the mirror and ask why they’ve never called for the expulsion of Democrats who have expressed anti-Semitic views while in office.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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