House debates new member’s social media past

Freshman U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Thursday that incendiary posts she liked and shared on the internet did not represent her personal views. But House Democrats voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments because of her past support for conspiracy theories such as those promulgated by QAnon. She has also backed claims that 9/11 and mass shootings were hoaxes, and she has publicly blamed Jews and Muslims for societal problems.

What was her defense? Greene said on the House floor that she regretted some “words of the past” and that she stopped believing those theories before she started her congressional campaign. Other Republicans warned that removing Greene from committees because of her past statements would open the floodgates for mass censorship and abuse of power by the Democratic majority. The vote fell largely along party lines.

Dig deeper: Read Emily Belz’s report on Christians who support the QAnon conspiracy movement.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.