Rep. Kinzinger: I voted to remove Greene from committees because she shows 'no remorse'

Rep. Kinzinger: I voted to remove Greene from committees because she shows 'no remorse'

Show Caption Hide Caption Greene reacts after House kicks her off committees Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene held a press conference Friday after a fiercely divided House has tossed her off both her committees. (Feb. 5) AP

WASHINGTON – Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. slammed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for showing "no remorse" for espousing conspiracy theories and other her past incendiary comments.

Kinzinger was one of 11 Republican senators who joined every Democrat on Thursday in removing Greene from the Education & Labor Committee and the Budget Committee for a litany of conspiratorial and menacing social media posts before she was elected.

Before she was stripped of her committee assignments, Greene spoke on the House floor to disavow some of her previous incendiary posts on social media in a last-ditch effort to avoid punishment.

Though she expressed some regret, Greene never apologized during that speech.

More: House removes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees over incendiary social media posts

Friday, in a press conference to address her removal from the committees, Greene tweeted she "woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11) are for giving some one like me free time."

"In this Democrat tyrannical government, Conservative Republicans have no say on committees anyway. Oh this is going to be fun," she posted.

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Kinzinger quote-tweeted her comments, saying: "This is why I voted yes. There is no remorse here for her past comments. Just a huge desire to be famous."

This is why I voted yes. There is no remorse here for her past comments. Just a huge desire to be famous. https://t.co/Bir0NsufI1 — Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 5, 2021

Before joining Congress, Greene was the center of controversy in Republican ranks over her past remarks and support for the fringe QAnon conspiracy, which baselessly claims a "deep state" cabal of pedophiles was trying to bring down then-President Donald Trump.

She also had posted videos questioning whether a plane crashed into the Pentagon during the 9/11 terrorist attacks; stalked and taunted David Hogg, a teen survivor of the deadly Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida; and suggested that space lasers were causing deadly wildfires in California.

She has said several school shootings, such as Parkland and Sandy Hook Elementary School, were staged by Democrats to promote gun laws and that "the stage was being set" to hang former President Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

During the press conference Friday, Greene continued to signal she was indifferent to the punishment, saying if she "was on a committee, I'd be wasting my time because my conservative values wouldn't be heard, and neither would my districts."

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Asked about Kinzinger's tweets, Greene criticized him and the other Republicans who voted to remove her, saying having "Republicans in the ranks voting against one of their own" will hurt the GOP's chances of taking back the House majority during the 2022 midterm elections.

"People are very angry," Greene said. "So I hope that my Republican colleagues really think about what they've done."

Maura Gillespie, Kinzinger's communications director, told USA TODAY the Illinois congressman "has said from day one that QAnon has no place in Congress. And while he respects the voice of the people and their right to elect Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, he does not agree with the decision to give her a committee seat."

"Her perpetuation of conspiracy theories and advocating for violence is not compatible with the integrity of the institution nor the principles of the Republican Party," the statement concluded.

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Greene was pressed if she was apologetic for her past comments and rhetoric.

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry for saying all those things that are wrong and offensive," Greene stated Friday.

However, in the same presser, Greene said she was not sorry when she confronted Hogg, a survivor of the deadly Parkland shooting, in 2018 and peppered him with questions about the massacre that killed 17 at his high school, saying he "was an adult when I talked to him,” and that she is "not sorry for telling him we shouldn’t” push for gun control.

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Kinzinger has been outspoken against the QAnon movement since it gained popularity and was one of the few GOP congressmen to publicly criticize Trump when he was in office.

He was one of was one of 10 GOP House members who joined all Democrats in voting to impeach Trump in January for "incitement of insurrection" regarding accusations the former president encouraged the deadly Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, saying he knew it could "very well be terminal to my career."