South Florida Republicans explain why they broke with their party. ‘I had to hold Marjorie Taylor Greene accountable’
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Three South Florida Republicans — U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Salazar — broke ranks over what to do about Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conspiracy-touting Georgia congresswoman.
In voting to strip Greene’s committee assignments, the three were in a tiny minority in the minority party. Just 11 Republicans voted with the Democratic majority to remove Greene from serving on House committees — with 199 Republicans voting against punishing Greene.
One big factor in the controversy swirling around Greene: the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland — just 25 miles north of Miami-Dade County, where Diaz-Balart, Gimenez and Salazar all live.
Besides her pre-election comments that supported assassinations, death to FBI agents, anti-Semitism (and an idea that Jewish space lasers caused a massive California wildfire), Greene achieved notoriety for suggesting that the Stoneman Douglas massacre, in which 17 people were killed and 17 wounded, might not be what it seemed to be.
Voting to remove Greene:","additional_properties":{"comments":1/83/8,"inline_comments":1/83/83/4,"_id":"MOBRZZ4ZJBAWLFC6EL7BLCVWEQ
11 House Republicans joined 199 Democrats in voting to remove Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee assignments:","additional_properties":{"comments":1/83/8,"inline_comments":1/83/83/4,"_id":"XN7EVSN74VF27KGZEKR6KELZAA
Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida.
Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
Carlos Gimenez of Florida.
John Katko of New York.
Young Kim of California.
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Chris Jacobs of New York.
Nicole Malliotakis of New York.
Maria Salazar of Florida.
Chris Smith of New Jersey.
Fred Upton of Michigan.
And a year after the massacre, she followed David Hogg, a Stoneman Douglas student-turned-gun control activist down a sidewalk outside the U.S. Capitol, haranguing him and calling him a “coward” when he ignored her. She then gave an interview calling Hogg an idiot” and said he is trained “like a dog.”
That seemed to be too much for the three South Florida Republicans.
Gimenez: “Her comments and intent to spread lies and conspiracies must not be tolerated. When she goes after students, victims, and survivors of senseless gun violence as in the case of the Parkland High School shooting, she loses all credibility as someone assigned to crafting policies in protection of children from violence.”
Salazar: “I had to hold Marjorie Taylor Greene accountable for her denial of the Parkland Massacre, the Flight 77 crash, and accusing a Jewish family of starting the California wildfires.”
Diaz-Balart: “MTG’s comments are unacceptable.”
All three joined with a key Republican talking point from Thursday: Democrats should be prepared to be held to a new, tougher standard involving their comments. “From now on, I will hold every Democrat to this new standard that they have created,” Salazar said in her statement.
Stand With Parkland, a group of many family members of people killed at the school, called for Greene’s removal from one particular assignment: the Education Committee.
The resolution that imposed the punishment on Greene was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. And floor debate for the Democratic majority was managed by U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, who represents Parkland.
All South Florida Democrats supported removing Greene from House committees. “Decency prevails!,” U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, wrote on Twitter, adding that the action shows “there is zero tolerance in Congress for any member to spread false & dangerous accusations w/conspiracy theories, while in decisive roles affecting policy.”
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican who represents northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, voted against stripping Greene of her committee assignments. He didn’t explain his vote; while other members of Congress from both parties issued statements Thursday evening, Mast posted on Twitter that “kids belong in school.”
Mast, who used to live in Parkland, broke with most Republicans after the Stoneman Douglas massacre and supported some gun restrictions — taking lots of heat from conservatives in his party.
Until Thursday evening, Diaz-Balart, Gimenez and Salazar stuck with their party on the year’s most consequential votes.
Diaz-Balart and Gimenez voted last month to reject electoral college votes from two states won by President Joe Biden as part of the attempt by former President Donald Trump to overturn his election loss. (Salazar, who was recovering from COVID-19, hadn’t yet been sworn in.)
All three voted against impeaching Trump for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The other eight Republicans who voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments:
Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
John Katko of New York.
Young Kim of California.
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Chris Jacobs of New York.
Nicole Malliotakis of New York.
Chris Smith of New Jersey.
Fred Upton of Michigan.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @browardpolitics
