Republican congressional candidate caught on video making series of racist and Islamophobic remarks

A Republican congressional candidate in Georgia has filmed herself making a series of racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic comments.

Hours of videos uplaoded to Facebook by Marjorie Taylor Greene that show the congressional candidate making offensive comments have been uncovered by Politico.

In the footage, Ms Greene, who is running in Georgia, claimed that black people are “are held slaves to the Democratic Party” and suggested that Muslims should not work in government.

The candidate also made antisemitic comments, and claimed that George Soros, who is subject to numerous antisemitic conspiracy theories, is a Nazi.

In February 2019, Ms Greene replied to an antisemitic meme that claimed Mr Soros was part of a secret world government, and added: “The Nazi himself trying to continue what was not finished.”In other videos, Ms Greene claimed that Muslims want special treatment in the US and warned that there is “an Islamic invasion into our government offices right now”.

Watch: We uncovered hours of videos of Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading GOP congressional candidate in Georgia, expressing racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views. https://t.co/y6oZzomnlR pic.twitter.com/DKv8sCPjrK

— POLITICO (@politico) June 18, 2020

She added that if she was black she would be “proud” to see Confederate statues, as it shows the progress the US has made.

Ms Greene became a Republican candidate in Georgia, after she finished first in a GOP primary in the state last week.

She will next be on the ballot for the Republican primary runoff, on 11 August, where she is the favourite for the nomination in her district, against neurosurgeon John Cowan.

According to Politico, Republican officials are panicking about the optics of Ms Greene winning the nomination, following a month of protests surrounding racial injustice, after the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd by a then-Minneapolis police officer.

Monuments to Confederate officials have been removed in numerous states in the past couple of weeks, and House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for 11 monuments to be removed from the US Capitol.

Ms Greene’s comments have already been condemned by officials in the state, who have distanced themselves from her congressional campaign.

Drew Florio, a spokesman for Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, told Politico: “These comments are appalling, and Leader McCarthy has no tolerance for them.”

The comment was echoed by Republican House minority whip Steve Scalise, who released a statement saying he is supporting Dr Cowan.

“The comments made by Ms Greene are disgusting and don’t reflect the values of equality and decency that make our country great,” Mr Scalise said. “I will be supporting Dr Cowan.”

Her opponent in the primary also condemned her views, saying: “These comments do not reflect the views of the people of the 14th District.”

Dr Cowan added: “I think she would embarrass our state, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep her from representing northwest Georgia in Congress.”