Auschwitz Memorial: Greene’s Nazi Comments a ‘Symptom of Moral and Intellectual Decline’

The Auschwitz Memorial on Tuesday condemned Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R., Ga.) comments comparing COVID-19 restrictions to the persecution of Jews by the Nazis.

“The instrumentalization of the tragedy of Jews who suffered, were humiliated, marked with a yellow star, isolated in ghettos & murdered during the Holocaust, in a debate on different systems that aim at protecting public health is a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline,” the Auschwitz Memorial wrote in a tweet.

Earlier on Tuesday, Greene likened a Tennessee grocery store’s rule requiring employees to display their vaccination status to the Third Reich’s star-wearing requirement for Jews.

Greene’s tweet sparked backlash, including from Republican leaders.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell called Greene’s remarks “outrageous” and “reprehensible.” McConnell’s spokesman wrote on Twitter that the Kentucky Republican had recently called out Greene’s “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party and our country.”

Meanwhile, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) called Greene “wrong” and said her “intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling.”

“The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling,” McCarthy said.

Minority whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) and House Republican Conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) both released statements criticizing Greene’s remarks as well.

Greene defended her comments on Twitter, writing that she “never compared it to the Holocaust, only the discrimination against Jews in early Nazi years.”

“Stop feeding into the left wing media attacks on me,” she wrote. “Everyone should be concerned about the squads support for terrorists and discrimination against unvaxxed people.”