Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who apologized earlier this year for comparing mask mandates to the Holocaust, ripped "vaccine Nazis" on Tuesday while saying she's not vaccinated.
"They're ruining our country, these vaccine Nazis," Greene complained in an interview with Steve Bannon's podcast.
"I'm sorry. I know I'm using the word Nazi and everybody gets mad when I say it, but that's exactly what they are," she added.
In May, Greene drew bipartisan criticism for a comment comparing a House rule on face coverings to the Holocaust, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., calling her comments "appalling." Greene later apologized after a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in June. “There is no comparison to the Holocaust,” she said. “And there are words that I have said in remarks that I've made that I know are offensive, and for that, I want to apologize.”
Greene, who's been cited by the House sergeant-at-arms for refusing to wear a mask on the House floor on at least 20 occasions and spurned a mask while sheltering in place with other lawmakers on Jan. 6, also told Bannon she has not been vaccinated against Covid-19.
"You want to know something, Steve? I'm not vaccinated. I'm not vaccinated, and I'm not getting the vaccine because I'm an American. I can choose what I want to do with my body. I have the freedom to decide if I want to get a vaccine or not get a vaccine. I do not care who tells me to get one," she said, noting that she doesn't have the same concerns as workers facing vaccine mandates.
"I am a member of Congress, and guess what, no one is firing me for not being vaccinated, but all of these amazing first responders ... are being fired," she said. "I am so done with it."
Asked by Bannon if that shows "the fascism of the elites," Greene agreed. "They are the fascists. They have called us fascists and have called us Nazis for like five years now, and I'm fed up with it, because that's exactly who they are," Greene said. "They are the Nazis!"
Greene had previously refused to answer reporters' questions about her vaccination status, claiming those questions were a "violation of my HIPAA rights."
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act sets limits on what medical information doctors, hospitals and insurers can share, but individuals can share whatever information they choose to reveal about themselves.
Greene's comments aren't the first time she's returned to Nazi imagery since her apology. In July, she said in a tweet that people have a choice to get vaccinated and don’t need “medical brown shirts” knocking on doors to urge them to do so, a reference to the paramilitary organization that helped facilitate Hitler's rise to power.
