House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday that she is concerned about threats against members of Congress and suggested that the “enemy is within the House of Representatives.”
Pelosi said Congress will likely need to pass a bill that will bring in more money that would go to the safety of members in the face of recent threats in the days since the January 6 Capitol uprising.
“We probably need a supplement to increase security for members when the enemy is inside the House of Representatives – a threat that members are concerned about in addition to what is happening outside,” Pelosi said.
When asked to explain what she meant by “the enemy is within,” she replied, “We have members of Congress who want to put weapons on the ground and have threatened violence against other members of Congress.”
ABC News contacted Pelosi’s office for further clarification as to the members it was referring to, but did not return immediately.
Her comments come after Republicans have spent the past few days trying to bring their guns to the floor of the House, despite the addition of a metal detector by the room door. Some Republicans bypass the metal detector altogether.
CNN’s KFile, in a report on its online activities, said GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Reportedly “liked” a comment on her Facebook page in 2019 that threatened the lives of Pelosi and other Democrats.
ABC News cannot confirm the “likes” because the posts have been deleted.
Greene was also recently assigned to the House Education and Labor Committee, despite her support for conspiracy theories that alleged mass shootings in schools in Sandy Hook and Parkland.
Pelosi, D-Calif., Fell into Republican leadership because he gave Greene that commission assignment.
“What I am concerned about is the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives who are willing to overlook those statements, ignore them, assign her to the Education Committee when they make fun of the killing of small children on the Sandy Hook Elementary School, when she mocked the murder of teenagers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, ‘Pelosi said.
What could they think? Or is too generous a word for what they could do, ‘she added. “It’s absolutely awful.”
House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Has also said he will have a “talk” with Greene about her support for those threatening social media posts. It is unclear whether the two have spoken yet.
Asked for comment Thursday, Greene said in a statement from her agency, “Democrats and their spokespersons in the Fake News Media will stop at nothing to defeat conservative Republicans. They are coming after me because I am a threat to their cause of socialism. They come after me because they know I represent the people, not the politicians.
“They come after me because, like President Trump, I will always defend conservative values,” she continued. ‘They want to eliminate me because I represent the people. And they absolutely hate it. ‘
She did not respond to a question about a report she agreed with a social media post saying that the Sandy Hook school shooting took place.
In an earlier statement on Twitter, Greene did not deny that she liked posts and responded to comments, but claimed that many people have run her Facebook page.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., On Wednesday announced plans to file a resolution calling for Greene’s expulsion from Congress for her social media posts.
As if it wasn’t enough to bolster conspiracy theories that the September 11 attacks were an inside job and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting took place, a string of recent media reports have now confirmed that Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene had previously supported Social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House, members of Congress and former President Barack Obama, ”Gomez said in a statement Wednesday.
Such a plea for extremism and incitement not only requires her immediate expulsion from Congress, but also deserves a firm and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Her presence in office poses a direct threat to the elected officials and servants who serve our government, and it is for their safety, as well as the safety of institutions and officials across our country, that I appeal to my house colleagues to to support my resolution to immediately remove Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body, ”he said.
It would take two-thirds of the vote in Parliament to expel Greene and remove her from the chamber. It would take about 70 Republicans to vote with all Democrats on Gomez’s move. This is unlikely to happen.
Earlier Thursday, House Education and Labor Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., The Republican Leadership Over Greene’s Assignment To Its Committee.
He refers to a March 2019 video showing Greene following David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, on a sidewalk outside the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, and repeatedly asking him why he is pleading for gun control laws. Greene tells Hogg, “Why do you support red flag gun laws that affect our Second Amendment rights?
House Republicans have appointed someone to this committee who claimed that the murder of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax. House Republicans have appointed someone to this committee who claimed that the murder of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took place, “said Scott.” House Republicans have appointed someone on this committee who pursued and denounced a 17-year-old. longtime survivor of a mass school shooting, and celebrated this behavior by posting it on social media. House Republicans have appointed someone to this committee who has publicly endorsed the violence against elected officials, ”Scott said in a statement, referring to Greene.
House Republicans made this appointment and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy must explain how someone with this background represents the Republican Party in education matters. He sends a clear message to students, parents and teachers about the positions of the Republican Party, ”he said.
Benjamin Siegel of ABC News contributed to this report.