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The leader of the Republicans in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, has sharply distanced himself from party and parliamentary colleague Marjorie Taylor Greene, who attracts a lot of attention as a supporter of wild conspiracy theories.
"Crazy lies and conspiracy theories" are a "cancer for the Republican Party," the politics website "The Hill" quoted a statement from McConnell on Monday.
Anyone who claims that no plane crashed into the Pentagon in the September 11, 2001 attacks or that school massacres were only faked, "is not living in reality," said McConnell.
He didn't call Greene by name according to "The Hill".
But it was clear that he was referring to the MP who had only been a member of the House of Representatives in Washington since January.
Greene countered on Twitter: "The real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who can only politely lose," she wrote, referring to the recent Republican defeat in the congressional and presidential election.
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The 46-year-old is an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump and has also spread his conspiracy theory that his defeat against new President Joe Biden in the November election was due to massive fraud.
McConnell, however, recognized Biden's victory and after the election broke with Trump, with whom he had mostly worked closely during his four-year term in office.
Greene, who won her congressional mandate in the state of Georgia, is a supporter of the right wing QAnon movement.
This movement spreads a conspiracy theory from a global left-liberal cult of pedophile satanists.
The gun fanatic is also said to have endorsed messages on online networks in the past promoting the execution of prominent representatives of the Democratic Party such as the chairman of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
McConnell's statement reflects concerns that Greene could make it difficult for Republicans to win back Senate and House majorities from Democrats in the November 2022 congressional election.
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Since Trump's electoral defeat and the subsequent loss of the Republican majority in the Senate in by-elections in early January, there has been an increasing dispute over the direction of the Republicans.
In doing so, those forces who consider a clear break with Trump to be the most promising path are rivaling those who continue to rely on the former president.
Greene as a symbol of radicalization in parts of the Republican Party
Greene is a symbol of the extent of radicalization that has taken place in parts of the Republican Party in recent years.
Despite her extreme views, the new MP was nominated by her party to serve on several parliamentary committees, including the Education Committee.
However, the Democrats are threatening a plenary vote this week to expel Greene from these bodies if the Republican parliamentary group leader Kevin McCarthy does not recall the conspiracy ideologist from the committees himself.