House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is now dishonestly claiming ignorance of QAnon, further compounding his refusal to hold Rep. Marjorie Greene Taylor (R-GA) accountable for her support for deranged conspiracy theories, including QAnon.
As he was defending his decision to let Greene off the hook on Wednesday night, McCarthy told reporters that it would have been “helpful” if they “could hear exactly what she told all of us” during a private House GOP meeting earlier that day.
“Denouncing ‘Q-on’…I don’t know if I say it right, I don’t even know what it is,” he said, mispronouncing the name.
The Republican leader’s sudden claim to be unfamiliar with QAnon, which alleges now-former President Donald Trump was on a secret mission to take down a ring of pedophiles among Democratic elites, was a flat contradiction to the not one, not two, but three times he had previously denounced the bonkers conspiracy theory before the controversy over Greene’s far-right extremism erupted several weeks ago.
On August 21, shortly after Greene won the GOP primary in her staunchly GOP district and essentially locked in her seat, McCarthy discussed her ties to QAnon during a virtual press conference and said, “I do not agree with their beliefs at all.”
During a Fox News interview later that night, the GOP leader insisted that “there is no place for QAnon in the Republican Party” (while pronouncing the name correctly) and reiterated his disavowal of the conspiracy theory.
“I do not support it,” he said.
Then after Greene and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who had also embraced QAnon, won their elections in November, McCarthy indicated during a press briefing that he was aware of the disturbing nature of QAnon when he defended the incoming lawmakers, claiming they had “denounced” the conspiracy theory when a reporter asked him about the issue.
On Wednesday night, McCarthy announced he would not punish Greene and rejected Democrats’ push to strip the Georgia lawmaker of her committee assignments. The Democrats will hold a floor vote on the issue on Thursday.
H/t the Washington Post and Mediaite.
