One McConnell adviser, who like other Republicans spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss strategic conversations, said the decision to try to diminish or excommunicate Greene from the Republican Party is based on not wanting members to have to answer for or defend her comments while they are up for reelection.

“It’s only going to get worse unless we do something about it,” this person said.

Other party strategists have warned that McCarthy’s confidence that historical tail winds will help Republicans win in 2022 could be shortsighted, given the attack at the Capitol, whose repercussions may still scramble political dynamics in unusual ways. The only recent example of the president’s party gaining House seats in a midterm election came in 2002, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“If any candidates for the House or Senate are explaining Jewish space lasers next fall, we have no hope for recapturing either majority,” quipped one prominent Republican campaign strategist.