Sen. Mitt Romney condemned fellow GOP lawmakers Sunday as “morons” for addressing the America First Political Action Conference hosted by Nick Fuentes, a White nationalist leader who’s joked about the Holocaust, in Florida over the weekend.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia spoke to the conference at the Orlando World Center Marriott, while Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona appeared in a pre-recorded video, according to media reports.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, I don’t know them,” Mr. Romney, Utah Republican, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I’m reminded of the old line from the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid movie, where one character says, ’Morons, I have morons on my team.’”
“I would think that anybody that would sit down with a white nationalist and speak at their conference would certainly be missing a few IQ points,” he said.
Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming Republican, also condemned her colleagues.
“As Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep Paul Gosar speak at this white supremacist, anti-Semitic, pro-Putin event, silence by Republican Party leaders is deafening and enabling,” Ms. Cheney tweeted. “All Americans should renounce this garbage and reject the Putin wing of the GOP now.”
Ms. Greene later denied knowing Mr. Fuentes, who spoke favorably about Russia while introducing the congresswoman at the conference.
“I do not know Nick Fuentes, I’ve never heard him speak, I’ve never seen a video, I don’t know what his views are,” she told CBS News.
Ms. Greene said she wanted to talk to young people about “America First” policies.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.