McCarthy rebukes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over mask wearing, Holocaust comments

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday rebuked GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her recent comments about COVID-19 mask wearing and the Holocaust, saying she was "wrong" and calling the matter "deeply troubling."

"Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling," the California Republican said. "The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling."

Greene made the comments last week on Just the News' "Water Cooler" TV program. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still requiring members to wear a mask inside the House Chamber, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention loosened its guidance on indoor and outdoor mask wearing. 

"Let me be clear: the House Republican Conference condemns this language,:" McCarthy also said.

The Democrat-controlled House in February voted in favor of taking away Greene’s committee assignments for inflammatory remarks made before being elected in 2020.

Also on Tuesday, Greene, of Georgia, defended her comment, saying she was comparing mask mandates to "discrimination against Jews in early Nazi years," not the Holocaust.

McCarthy is his statement was also critical of Pelosi and fellow Democrats for not what he considers not being more forceful in speaking out about the rise of anti-Semitism.

"At a time when the Jewish people face increased violence and threats, anti-Semitism is on the rise in the Democrat Party and is completely ignored by Speaker Nancy Pelosi," he said. "Americans must stand together to defeat anti-Semitism and any attempt to diminish the history of the Holocaust."