House Republicans' war on Nancy's mask rules: Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Pelosi a 'mentally-ill Nazi' for refusing to lift mandates - and Rep. Thomas Massie puts his $500 fine for flouting rules in the trash

  • 'Do you want them breathing in your face on the strength of their honor?' Pelosi said of unvaccinated lawmakers
  • Several GOP lawmakers wore masks and incurred potential fines in protest of the rule
  • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green went after Pelosi for 'abuse' she compared to the gas chambers and Jews in Nazi Germany being required to wear the star of David 
  •  Rep. Thomas Massie tweeted image of letter describing his $500 fine placed in a waste bin
  • Less than half of House Republicans are vaccinated based on network tally 
  • Continuation of the rule came as President Biden hosted large event in East Room
  • White House has testing regimen for guests and says staff are vacinated 

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on Thursday compared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's mask mandate for the House chamber to the horrors of the Holocaust. 

The lawmaker who was kicked off committees for past comments about QAnon and other statements went beyond Nazi comparisons that numerous public figures have had to take back over the years, comparing the mask mandate to the singling out of Jews with the star of David and even the gas chambers of Hitler's extermination campaign. 

She said of Pelosi: 'This woman is mentally ill. You know, we can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany. And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about,' she told David Brody on Real America's Voice. 

'You know, we can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,' said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as she criticized a mandate that lawmakers wear face coverings inside the House chamber

'You know, we can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,' said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as she criticized a mandate that lawmakers wear face coverings inside the House chamber

She also blasted the speaker for attending a gathering in the White House Thursday where guests closely mingled without masks.  

'Nancy Pelosi is enjoying herself mask-free at the White House while she’s running a tyrannical, oppressive workplace here at the House of Representatives, forcing us to wear masks, abusing our individual freedoms, demanding that members of Congress get the Covid vaccine, which is still not approved by the FDA by the way and you can’t even demand to know people’s private medical records,' she said.

'So our vaccine history is none of her business. As a matter of fact, it’s a violation of our HIPAA rights for her to demand to know,' she added.

Rep. Thomas Massie placed a letter describing a $500 fine for violating the mask mandate inside a waste bin

Rep. Thomas Massie placed a letter describing a $500 fine for violating the mask mandate inside a waste bin

SMILE! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., poses for a photo before the signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 20, 2021, in Washington.

SMILE! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., poses for a photo before the signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 20, 2021, in Washington.

She was responding to Pelosi's statement that she will keep the mandate in place until all lawmakers are vaccinated, amid indications that three quarters of them have gotten their shots.

Her blast at the speaker comes as Kentucky GOP Rep. David Massie revealed what he thought about a $500 fine he incurred for going on the House floor without a mask.

He tweeted out an image of the letter he received from the House Sergeant at Arms informing him about the fine – with the letter placed in the trash can.

The image showed the letter, still paper clipped and still pristine with an envelope stamped 'Important' behind it, inside the waste bin.

Massie tweeted: '.@SpeakerPelosi sent me another letter. Something about violating her tyrannical and unscientific mask rule. I filed this one in the same location.'   

The pushback came after Pelosi on Thursday called members of Congress who have not gotten the coronavirus vaccine selfish and claimed they are a danger to their colleagues.

The House Speaker said she will keep the mask mandate on the floor in place until all members have gotten the shot - even though restrictions have been lifted in the White House and most of the rest of the country. 

'We have to wait for them to be vaccinated. Because they are selfishly an endangerment to other people, including staff people here,' she said at a Capitol press conference. 

'We have a responsibility to make sure the House of Representatives' chamber is not a petri dish,' she added.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (center) tweeted a photo from the House floor of the GOP lawmakers without face masks; from left Reps. Mary Miller, Ralph Norman and Thomas Massie. She compared Pelosi to the Nazis over the mask mandate for the House chamber

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (center) tweeted a photo from the House floor of the GOP lawmakers without face masks; from left Reps. Mary Miller, Ralph Norman and Thomas Massie. She compared Pelosi to the Nazis over the mask mandate for the House chamber 

'It is unfortunate that a large number of people in the Congress have refused to be vaccinated... Until they are vaccinated, we cannot have meetings without masks.

'What is this the honor system? The honor system as to whether somebody's been vaccinanted? Do you want them breathing in your face on the strength of their honor?' 

Pelosi has said that around 75 percent of members of the House have been vaccinated. It's not known who has decided against it. But there isn't a central list, unless lawmakers released a public statement or tweeted out a picture.

A tally by CNN reveals stark partisan differences. All 219 Democrats have been vaccinated, but just 97 out of 211 Republicans. 

During a pre-pandemic standard 15-minute vote, all 435 lawmakers would make their way into the chamber and linger along with floor staff, specially credentialed aides, and dozens of reporters camped outside. 

Pelosi is relying in part on the Capitol physician Brian Monahan, who warned in a letter this week about the potential risks of unvaccinated people mingling in the Capitol.

A Biden event in the East Room Thursday had signs of a return to normalcy, with unmasked guests spaced apart

A Biden event in the East Room Thursday had signs of a return to normalcy, with unmasked guests spaced apart

'Extra precautions are necessary given the substantial number of partially vaccinated, unvaccinated, and vaccine-indeterminate individuals," according to the physician's letter. "These measure allow for all participants to be treated in the same fashion without displaying any unique identification feature that would separate individuals based on their vaccination or health status." 

Pelosi has shunned the idea of an honor system and has instead kept the strict measures in place, despite opposition from Republican lawmakers, some of whom joined in public protest and faced potential fines. 

Her comments came on the same day President Joe Biden signed the Anti-Asian hate crime bill in front of an audience that was maskless and wasn't required to socially distance.

Lawmakers, members of Biden's cabinet and others among the 68 people in the crowd shook hands, mingled took photos and even hugged in a a sign that the White House is returning to normal.

'I mean does anybody feel like wearing a mask?  No no, we all want to get through this,' Pelosi said. 

It was not immediately clear what protocols were in place for the Biden event, but the White House staff and cabinet members have been vaccinated. 

For months there have been strict measures in place for all events, indoors and out. 

Some Republicans have been heavily critical of the mask mandates and have even flaunted the rules, despite facing a $500 fine.

'Best $500 I ever spent,' Republican Rep. Brian Mast told NBC News. He refused to put his mask on even after a member of the House Sergeant at Arms' office approached him on the chamber floor Tuesday evening, in full view of C-SPAN's camera, and asked him to wear one.

The limits are still in place even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said most vaccinated people do not have to wear face coverings while indoors.

Capitol Attending Physician Dr. Brian Monahan also said on Wednesday that the mask rules should stay in place until every member is vaccinated. 

Conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and three other Republican lawmakers took a selfie of themselves standing in the well of the House, bare faced, and tagging it with the hashtag #freeyourface

'Proud to join these Patriots for a peaceful protest on the House floor against mask mandates!,' Greene tweeted with the pic.

'Enough is enough! #FreeYourFace,' wrote Republican Rep. Mary Miller, who was in the selfie, on Twitter.

'5 Republican women and 5 Republican men are now maskless on the floor,' tweeted GOP Rep. Tom Massie on Tuesday night. He was also in Greene's selfie and organized Tuesday night's protest.

'We've had enough. We are refusing to wear our masks on the floor during this vote in spite of Pelosi's threat to take $500 from each of us. Her rule is not based on science,' Massie also tweeted.

After their anti-mask crusade, the Republican lawmakers gathered outside on the steps of the Capitol to celebrate their rebellion. None of them would tell NBC News if they had been vaccinated or not.

Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes and Mast then got into an exchange about masks while out there.

President Joe Biden signs the COVID-19 Hate Crims Act into law surrounded by members of Congress who, for the first time in his administration, were allowed into the White House in a mask-less large group

President Joe Biden signs the COVID-19 Hate Crims Act into law surrounded by members of Congress who, for the first time in his administration, were allowed into the White House in a mask-less large group 

'If you choose not to wear a mask, if you choose to disrespect the floor staff, if you choose to give them a hard time, that's on you,' Hayes told Mast, according to a reporter from The Hill who witnessed the exchange.

'It's definitely on us if we choose not to wear a mask. I'm glad we agree,' Mast replied.

Three GOP lawmakers were slapped with a $500 fine after ignoring previous warnings about masks: Mast, Beth Van Duyne and Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

'I have been fined $500 by @SpeakerPelosi for following CDC guidance. This was never about science. It has always been about power,' Mast tweeted.

'The CDC scientists have made it CLEAR if you are fully vaccinated you no longer have to wear a mask,' he noted.

Seven other Republicans were issued formal warnings and will face $500 fines if they refuse to wear masks again: Greene, Massie, Miller, Lauren Boebert, Chip Roy Bob Good, and Louie Gohmert.

Any subsequent offenses would result in fines of $2,500 each.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi takes a photo with other signing ceremony attendees at the White House's first indoor, mask-less event - marking the passage of an anti-Asian hate crimes bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi takes a photo with other signing ceremony attendees at the White House's first indoor, mask-less event - marking the passage of an anti-Asian hate crimes bill 

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