Arwa
Mahdawi
Whatever
her motives, the Republican congresswoman’s ‘revenge tour’ against the
president is proving surprisingly effective
Tue 18
Nov 2025 15.12 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/18/marjorie-taylor-greene-maga-trump
There are
535 members of Congress; only a dozen or so are household names. If you want to
achieve that sort of brand name recognition, there are a few tried-and-tested
ways to do so. You can spend years working your way up the ranks until you’re a
power-broker like Nancy Pelosi. You can burst on to the scene and dramatically
unseat an incumbent like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did. Or you can go the
Marjorie Taylor Greene route and achieve notoriety by being utterly unhinged.
Since
becoming a congresswoman for Georgia in 2021, Greene has kept herself in the
news by spouting conspiracy theories, fighting with colleagues, and being one
of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders. In recent months, however, something strange
has been happening. Greene has continued to generate headlines, but largely
because she has turned on her party and is part of a growing Maga civil war.
Greene was the first Republican lawmaker, for example, to say that there is a
genocide in Gaza and has been one of the loudest voices demanding that the
Epstein files be released. She has also criticised the Maga movement for not
focusing on affordability or putting America first. Now, things have escalated
to the point where Greene is making Trump see red; the pair are in a full-blown
feud.
On Friday
the president, who stood by Greene when she voiced conspiracy theories about
school shootings and claimed that wildfires were started by space lasers,
announced on Truth Social that he was finally withdrawing his endorsement of
the congresswoman. “All I see ‘Wacky’ Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN,
COMPLAIN!” he complained. Adding: “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every
day.”
Greene,
meanwhile, has said that Trump’s comments are “hurtful” but she still supports
his administration and hopes they “make up”. She has also said she believes
that his comments have fuelled threats against her safety. When asked on Sunday
about these threats, Trump said: “I don’t think her life is in danger … I don’t
think anybody cares about her.”
But that
last bit isn’t quite true. If Greene learned anything from her apprenticeship
with Trump, it’s how to generate media coverage. The congresswoman’s face is
everywhere. And while she may no longer be buddies with the president, she is
building bridges with former foes. On Sunday, for example, she appeared on
CNN’s State of the Union and apologised for her role in “toxic politics”. And
earlier this month, she went on the high-profile talkshow The View and
criticised her party for not having a health care plan. “You are a very
different person than I thought you were,” the presenter, Sunny Hostin, said.
So is
Greene a different person? I’d love it if that truly were the case; it would be
heartening to believe that some of the most toxic people in US politics might
be capable of introspection and change. Alas, I don’t think this is some sort
of road to Damascus moment. Rather, as Ocasio-Cortez has posited, this is more
likely a case of sour grapes. AOC’s theory is that the Trump administration
shut down Greene’s ambitions to run for Senate and she “has been on a revenge
tour ever since”. Greene said at the time that she didn’t believe she could
make a difference as a senator and wanted to continue to serve her
congressional district.
She’s not
alone in her revenge tour. The Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who along
with the Democrat Ro Khanna is leading a bipartisan push to release the Epstein
files, has also been trading barbs with the president. In a dramatic U-turn,
Trump has now had to concede defeat on the files, declaring on Sunday that he’s
happy to have a vote on the issue, as “we have nothing to hide”.
Trump has
bounced back from scandals that would have buried most people. He is, let’s not
forget, the first convicted criminal elected to the presidency. But it’s not
just the Epstein files and traitorous deputies that he’s battling at the
moment. According to a recent NBC News poll, 63% of registered voters,
including 30% of Republicans, said that Trump has fallen short of their
expectations on the economy. The president has been building ballrooms and
blowing up boats instead of lowering the price of bread. While his base is
still loyal, his approval ratings are eroding. Whatever Greene’s motives, her
political instincts are sharp: there’s a real opportunity now to turn the
Republican party against Trump. May the revenge tour roll on. Perhaps, with all
this infighting, Greene will turn the electoral map blue.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist and the
author of Strong Female Lead
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