Kevin McCarthy defends Marjorie Greene against campaign to remove her from House committees

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) refused to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from House committees despite the growing furor over her past comments in support of numerous conspiracy theories including QAnon.

Greene, who was elected in November, has been under a barrage of criticism after CNN and other outlets dug up Facebook posts and social media videos where she made controversial comments.

Among the most egregious was a comment from her account affirming that the heinous Parkland massacre was a "false flag" attack orchestrated for the sake of passing gun control measures. Various survivors of the attack and the families of the victims excoriated her for the comment, but she did not address them in her response.

When CNN later uncovered more posts from her Facebook account calling for the execution of Democratic politicians, she lashed out at the network and called their story a "hit piece." She claimed that the posts were made by members of her team that had access to the account but that the comments did not reflect her views.

'This House condemned QAnon'

On Wednesday, McCarthy released a statement indicating that he would not remove Greene from any House committee seat.

"Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference. I condemn those comments unequivocally. I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today," McCarthy said.

"I made this clear to Marjorie when we met," he continued. "I also made clear that as a member of Congress we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard than how she presented herself as a private citizen. Her past comments now have much greater meaning. Marjorie recognized this in our conversation. I hold her to her word, as well as her actions going forward."

McCarthy went on to accuse Democrats demanding she be removed from House committees of a "partisan power grab," and indicated that he was against these measures.

On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a far stronger statement condemning Greene and her embrace of "loony lies and conspiracy theories."

Here's more on the campaign against Rep. Greene:

Mitch McConnell stands by his comments on 'kook' Marjorie Taylor Greenewww.youtube.com