Greene and Gosar increasingly isolated in Hill GOP after speaking at white nationalist event
The House and Senate Republican leaders spoke out after the two conservatives attended a weekend conference organized by a far-right, pro-Russia fringe figure.
Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene are on an island among their fellow GOP lawmakers after appearing with a white nationalist group over the weekend.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a host of other Republican leaders are condemning party members who engage with white nationalist groups, days after Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Greene (R-Ga.) spoke at the extremist-backed America First Political Action Conference. It’s the most serious signs of isolation yet for the two Trump-allied conservatives, as party leaders criticize their actions and decline to defend them.
When asked if he plans to take action against Gosar and Greene, McCarthy said on Monday evening he would “have a discussion” with the duo. McCarthy described far-fright fringe organizer Nick Fuentes’s language as “appalling” and said the “language that he uses about antisemitism and the chanting for Putin is unacceptable.”
McCarthy also told CNN that Greene should have left the stage after Fuentes introduced her over the weekend after urging the crowd to give “a round of applause for Russia.” His condemnations came quickly on the heels of McConnell’s disapproval. The Senate GOP leader said in a statement on Monday afternoon that “there’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism.”
During the weekend conference, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army attacked Ukraine, a chant of “Putin” was heard in the crowd after Fuentes made his request for support of Moscow. Gosar spoke at the America First conference last year, when Fuentes urged the protection of the “white demographic core.”
“I definitely want to disassociate myself from it,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). “It’s unacceptable.”
Greene (R-Ga.) defended herself in a weekend statement after absorbing a deluge of criticism for her appearance at the America First event, criticizing the “Pharisees in the Republican Party” and arguing she “won’t abandon these young men and women” who attended. Her move nonetheless drew fury from several prominent Republicans including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
Other prominent House conservatives sought distance from Gosar and Greene, although not all of them did so directly. Freshman Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Greene and Gosar “shouldn’t have been there, but that’s on them. They got to make those decisions for themselves.” He did not support punishing his colleagues internally, saying that question falls to their voters.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) put it this way: “I do not apologize for other members and what they say or what they do. I do not support white supremacists, like Nick Fuentes, period.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) went more forcefully after Fuentes: “Nick Fuentes is an asshole.” Roy added that he is “frustrated by colleagues who have chosen to associate in this situation.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the recently elected leader of the House Freedom Caucus, condemned racism when asked about Greene and Gosar. He declined to criticize either by name, or to criticize Fuentes. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a co-founder of the Freedom Caucus, took the same approach as Perry.
The Republican National Committee recently censured Cheney and Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for their work with Democrats on investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a punishment that prompted criticism from McConnell and many other Senate Republicans who said the RNC had unfairly singled out the duo.
Ronna McDaniel, chair of the RNC, issued a statement in the immediate aftermath of the America First conference that slammed “white supremacy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and bigotry” as “disgusting” and vowed they would have “no home in the Republican Party.” Asked for comment during a Monday press call on Greene and Gosar, whom she didn’t name directly in those remarks, McDaniel reiterated her previous statement.
While one RNC member suggested on Twitter that he would prepare a resolution censuring Greene and Gosar, McDaniel said that the next party meeting in August will be the forum for further debate on the topic.
The retiring Kinzinger said in an interview on Monday that his party should be focused on Greene and Gosar, not him, but had little confidence in that playing out.
“What I think we should do is kick them out of the party. What do I think we’re going to do? Nothing. Liz and I can get censured, they’re going to get help up as the future leaders of the party,” he said in an interview.
McCarthy “needs to do a press conference today denouncing Greene, Gosar, Fuentes, announcing Greene and Gosar are out of the conference, there’s no room for this,” Kinzinger added — before McCarthy made his statements criticizing the duo. “He’s not going to do that.”
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.