This was a surprise, and for once a pleasant one. Good for her for going and apologizing.

Although it shouldn’t take until a visit to the Holocaust Museum in your late 40s to arrive at the conclusion that comparing mundane grievances to the Holocaust is a bad idea. Greene told reporters this afternoon that she already knew that and even visited Auschwitz when she was 19. But her most recent controversy, comparing mask mandates and vaccination stickers to Jews being made to wear the yellow Star of David, doesn’t radiate sensitivity.

Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.

Vaccine passports & mask mandates create discrimination against unvaxxed people who trust their immune systems to a virus that is 99% survivable.https://t.co/6X6VNolcA7

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) May 25, 2021

Here she was after her tour this afternoon, sounding uncharacteristically apologetic. Watch (volume up, as it’s hard to hear) then read on.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene apologizes for making COVID Holocaust comparisons:

“I’m a normal person … I have made a mistake. It's really bothered me for a couple weeks now. I definitely want to own it.”pic.twitter.com/f81uaZlRCX

— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) June 14, 2021

It could be that she’s sincerely contrite about having offended anyone, but (a) it’s not like her to concede that her critics had a point and (b) she, ah, doesn’t seem ready to let go of Nazi analogies just yet:

While Greene emphatically withdrew her comparison of mask mandates to the Holocaust, when pressed by @Bencjacobs she refused to take back comparing the modern Democratic Party to the National Socialist Party of the Nazi era.

— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) June 14, 2021

Is there something else going on here, maybe? There is, according to Politico. Ilhan Omar’s latest journey into moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas has put House Republicans on offense, with McCarthy poised to introduce a resolution that would strip her of her committee assignments. But there’s a problem. If he makes that move, Dems are going to come back at him with some sort of resolution targeting Greene for comparing mask mandates to Nazi-era persecution. To blunt the force of that tu-quoque, Republicans needed Greene to admit error. And, surprisingly, she did.

Greene’s museum visit comes as one Jewish House Democrat, Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider, prepares to introduce a censure resolution condemning Greene’s latest comments on the Holocaust. Some Democrats are already privately discussing censure as a potential response to a group of Republican lawmakers pushing a censure resolution against one of their caucus members, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), for her recent remarks on Israel.

Neither party’s leaders have determined their next move on the floor on this matter. But the prospect of a tit-for-tat illustrated that both parties are continuing to grapple with how to respond to incendiary rhetoric in their ranks, with Democratic and GOP leaders alike eager to preserve unity among their own while talking up the discord across the aisle. Greene’s attempt to show remorse could help take some of the heat off her own party as the GOP prepares to go after Omar…

House Democrats, however, say they could once again target Greene on the floor — particularly if GOP leaders force a vote condemning Omar’s comments.

It’s especially unlike Greene to apologize knowing that Democrats are weighing whether to punish her. Did McCarthy promise her something in return for making this museum visit? Or was she really that remorseful about her error that she’d allow herself to be owned by the libs, if only for a day?

Maybe she’s already decided to run statewide in Georgia next year, either for governor or Senate, and figures she needs to be a tiny bit more presentable to a purpler electorate. That would be music to McCarthy’s ears.

Exit question: How soon can we get her over to the 9/11 museum? She needs a little enlightening on that subject too.