CONTROVERSIAL REPUBLICAN Marjorie Taylor Greene faced withering backlash today, including a Democratic effort to expel her from the US House of Representatives, for incendiary comments and social media posts that are setting Washington and her party on edge.

Greene, a 46-year-old from the southern state of Georgia, has expressed support for discredited conspiracy theories pushed by the QAnon far-right movement, and has echoed former president Donald Trump’s baseless election fraud claims.

She has found herself in hot water this week for newly unearthed posts in which she signalled support for executing Democratic members of Congress, and a video she herself put online showing her confronting a school shooting survivor.

Greene is a fierce gun rights advocate who has refused security screening at the House chamber, prompting Speaker Nancy Pelosi to warn that there is an “enemy” within Congress.

The new revelations come as Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is reportedly seeking a meeting with the first-term lawmaker to discuss the situation.

Perhaps most alarming are Greene’s own remarks, and her likes of multiple Facebook posts, that appear to support executing Pelosi for treason.

In a speech from before Greene ran for Congress in 2020, and recently uncovered by CNN but since removed from her Facebook feed, she called Pelosi a “traitor” who could be executed.

“It’s a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason,” she said.

In response Greene tweeted that CNN, which reported that she also has liked posts calling for the killing of FBI agents, did a “hit piece” focused on her time before she ran for office.

“Many posts have been liked. Most posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views,” Greene wrote.

At a press conference today, Pelosi delivered a searing rebuke, saying Congress will likely need to apportion more money for members’ security because “the enemy is within the House of Representatives.”

Pelosi did not mention Greene by name but said “we have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members.”

Greene and a handful of other Republican lawmakers say they carry firearms on Capitol Hill, and have sought to dodge metal detectors recently installed at entrances to the House floor.

With criticism mounting, House Democrat Jimmy Gomez said Thursday he is introducing a resolution to expel Greene from the House because she poses “a danger… to every member of Congress.”

Pelosi did not mention the expulsion effort.

Greene was recently appointed to the House Education and Labor Committee, despite her suggestion that the Parkland, Florida school shooting was a “false flag” operation to tighten gun control laws.

A video shows her confronting 18-year-old David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 shooting that killed 17 people, calling him a “coward” and telling him that she carries a gun.

- © AFP 2021