Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s relationship with the far right is changing.
Before, when MTG was a reliable firebrand, as willing to support an outlandish conspiracy theory as she was to support Donald Trump, she was a star in the right-wing orbit. MTG ripped Biden and she cheered Trump, and MAGA loved her for it.
But as Marjorie Taylor Greene pivots away from the fringes, with an eye on more mainstream acceptance, the far right is souring on MTG.
What precipitated the change in the relationship?
The most notable incident was MTG’s support of Representative Kevin McCarthy for speaker. Whereas other far-right members of Congress held up McCarthy’s nomination, MTG actually helped broker on McCarthy’s behalf. MTG now has the ear and respect of McCarthy, who of course, represents the GOP’s mainstream in Congress like no other – indicating to many in the MAGA world that MTG has “sold out.” MAGA views MTG as a punk band that put out a few “authentic” indie records before signing with Warner Brothers and writing radio hits. The fans aren’t happy. But apparently, neither is MTG.
MTG is not happy with MAGA
“Exactly who is most upset is open for debate,” The Daily Beast reported. On the one hand, “the far-right instigators who spent years cheering Greene on as a martyr of their cause now say she’s lost the plot. They’re fuming about her support for McCarthy’s debt limit deal, which passed last week on a bipartisan basis, and her coziness with McCarthy in general, which was illustrated in January when she supported him for speaker on all 15 ballots.”
And on the other hand, Marjorie Taylor Greene is deeply irritated with the criticism she has been receiving. In the text, MTG went off. “I have almost the same identical voting record as Thomas Massie, the most fiscally conservative member of Congress. And I voted with him on this bill,” Greene wrote in reference to the debt limit deal. “And Bannon, who was senior counsel to Trump in the WH and responsible for the first debt ceiling increase bc Bannon is reckless and no where near fiscally responsible, is now tellin everyone I should be primaried.”
“Steve [Bannon], [Laura] Loomer, and any other POS attacking me will not beat me … Because of that people have been reaching out to me because they don’t like what Steve is doing to me … ’m at a place in my life where removing toxic and bad people out of my life makes me very happy … Steve and I aren’t getting back together … and If he keeps it up I’ll take the house and kids. I hope you send it to Steve. Because I’m done.”
“I just had a town hall in Cobb County last night in the most populated area in my district and it was extremely successful. Standing ovation when I went in and standing ovation when I left.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Gaetz/Boebert
The text exchange emphasizes how far MTG has come with Matt Gaetz. In the past, MTG, Gaetz, and Representative Lauren Boebert formed a sort of unofficial, far-right alliance (it was a heinous arrangement), but that has completely fallen apart. Boebert and Gaetz deeply opposed McCarthy’s speakership whereas MTG helped make it happen. The rift was very much apparent to observers over the course of the 15 ballots that Republicans cast for the speakership.
Personally, I am fine with the far-right fracturing, and diluting its own power.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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