Marjorie Taylor Greene was elected to the House in 2002. The media loved to beat her up.
And the Georgia congresswoman gave them plenty of material, from her past belief in Qanon to her talk of Jewish space lasers, the “so-called” plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11, and “Pelosi’s gazpacho police spying on members of Congress.” She was considered an embarrassment by even Republican leaders, so the Democrats took her out of her assigned committee positions.
But the media still like to kick her around. But there’s a sudden realization that Greene has become one of the most influential Republicans on the Hill.
She’s done this with Attaques brutales aimed at the Democrats through social media and speeches, building her national brand and becoming one of her party’s most controversial voices. It’s the art of celebrity politics rooted in the Trump era, and she has forced the leadership to take her seriously.
MARJORIETAYLOR GREENE SAYS THAT MCCARTHY SHOULD GIVE HER MORE POWER TO PLEASE GOP VOTERS
Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia was a Republican at a Donald Trump rally that took place in Pennsylvania on September 3rd.
(Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s a good time to be Marjorie Taylor Greene right now,” says CNN’s Chris Cillizza.
Robert Draper (a contributing writer to the New York Times) is the catalyst for this journalistic reassessment. And while it’s titled “Weapons of Mass Delusion” How the GOP Lost Its Mind,” the excerpt on Greene is strikingly fair to her – including on-the-record interviews – and ultimately credits her with forging an unorthodox path to power:
“Greene has moved away from the G.O.P.’s far-right fringe.” Its establishment center is ever closer without her changing her beliefs. She has, in fact, continued to find extreme ways to express these beliefs.”
In fact, Greene says of Kevin McCarthy and the likely Republican takeover, “to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, he’s going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway. And if he doesn’t, they’re going to be very unhappy about it.” McCarthy’s part?Greene has been on a charm offensive. That’s quite a journey from the days when Mitch McConnell would describe her views as a “cancer” on the party.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kevin McCarthy in a photo illustration that shows them side-by-side.
MARJORIETAYLOR GREENE’S PRESENCE at TRUMP RALLIES SPARKS TALK of 2024 TICKET
For liberals, Democrats and most people in the press, Greene’s rise shows that her party has capitulated to the MAGA base. Greene has raised $7.4million for an easy race. fourth highest among House RepublicansWithout PAC contributions.
Greene stated this earlier this month at a Donald Trump rally: “Democrats want Republicans dead. They have already begun the killings.” In a debate she had this week with Marcus Flowers, Greene said that “the Democrat Party” is the party of child exploitation, repressing “grooming kids and sexualizing them at school.”
Some of this rhetoric, even if you allow for political hyperbole is unacceptable. Some of this rhetoric is irresponsible, even in an atmosphere that has become hyperpolarized. But the self-described “Christian nationalist” doesn’t care what journalists or opponents think, she is hyper-focused on her conservative supporters.
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Draper is a gifted reporter and documents Greene’s taunts, sometimes inaccurate, statements. She called for President Biden’s impeachment on her first day, and has said “Joe Biden is Hitler,” hashtag #NaziJoe. Nancy Pelosi was her name.A “b”–ch. She called Jan. 6 murderers of abortion providers and blamed Antifa.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) listens to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speak during a news conference at Washington’s Capitol.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
AOC used social media to become a celebrity leftist (with some groundless statements, but without the conspiracy theories), which may reflect the new digital reality. Once new legislators had years of work to get from the backbencher to the subcommittee chairman up to the leadership ranks. Now there’s a way to circumvent that drudgery.
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After once protesting outside Pelosi’s office, AOC moderated her approachto collaborate with the leaders during her second-term. Greene sometimes blasts her Republican colleagues for votes she doesn’t like. The approach she takes in a GOP House will determine whether she is a bombastic outsider, or an insider force.
