Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Nancy Pelosi 'mentally ill' and compares House mask rules to the Holocaust

• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi over House mask rules.
• "This woman is mentally ill," Greene said of Pelosi in an interview on Thursday.
• Several GOP lawmakers, including Greene, have refused to wear a mask on the House floor this week.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in a Thursday interview expressed her opposition to mask-wearing rules at the Capitol and called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has enforced the mandate, "mentally ill."

"This woman is mentally ill," the Georgia Republican told the far-right network, Real America's Voice, of Pelosi.

Greene's criticism came hours after the California Democrat had reiterated that all House members and staff must continue to wear masks on the floor, except for when speaking. Pelosi said the decision is not a "subjective" one and that she is following guidance from the Capitol's attending physician.

"What is this, the honor system? The honor system as to whether somebody's been vaccinated?" Pelosi said. "Do you want them breathing in your face on the strength of their honor?"

Greene continued her rant against Pelosi by comparing the mask-wearing requirement to the Holocaust.

"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," Greene said. "And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about."

Greene has refused to wear a mask on the House floor this week, joining several other Republican members who have openly defied the rules. As a result, the lawmakers have been hit with a series of warnings and fines. If Greene continues to violate the requirement, she will face a $500 fine and a $2,500 fine for any subsequent offenses.

The GOP-staged protest against the House mask mandate came in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement last Thursday that fully-vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear face-coverings indoors.

However, Pelosi said that the mask rule will remain in effect because not all lawmakers have been vaccinated. On Thursday, she said she won't let Congress become "a petri dish because of the selfishness of some."

"We have to wait for them to be vaccinated because they are selfishly a [danger] to other people," Pelosi said of several GOP lawmakers who have refused to disclose their vaccination status but insist on appearing maskless on the House floor.

All 219 House Democrats have said they received the coronavirus vaccine, but 109 of 211 House Republicans have not said whether they've gotten the shot, according to a list compiled by CNN.