Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has caused outrage by comparing measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic to the Holocaust. She said that employer-mandated proof of vaccination is “just like the Nazis forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.” She also compared Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s insistence that lawmakers get vaccinated before removing the House’s mask mandate to how Jews were “put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany.”

Greene, who has previously been criticized for her extremist views and support for conspiracy theories, has not backed down from her comments. Instead, she has continued to tweet similar messages. Her comments have been widely condemned, including by Republican leadership. Representative Kevin McCarthy released a statement on the comments, saying: “Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust to wearing masks is appalling. The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in human history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also called her comments “outrageous” and said they had “no place in the Republican Party or the country.” He added that it was “a shame that such a disgusting falsehood would be uttered on the floor of the United States House of Representatives.”

Greene’s comments have sparked calls for further action to be taken against her. She has already been stripped of her committee assignments by her colleagues in the House of Representatives for her previous extremist views and support for conspiracy theories. However, some have called for her to be expelled from Congress altogether.

It should go without saying that requiring people to wear masks in a global pandemic is not the same as the persecution of millions of Jews during the Holocaust. Greene’s comments have been widely condemned as offensive and deeply troubling. They highlight the dangers of misinformation and the need for responsible political leadership.