Marjorie Taylor Greene rose to prominence as one of President Trump's most outspoken allies. But in recent months she has begun to criticize him. What's driving the shift?
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has become a household name as one of President Trump's most outspoken allies. But now the Georgia Republican is making headlines for a completely different reason: her criticism of the president. And it led to a public rift between the two, including a new nickname from Trump just this week.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Marjorie Greene is a traitor.
CHANG: NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglass explains the thinking behind Greene's change.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: On a brisk morning this week, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stood outside the Capitol with some of the women abused by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For months, Greene has publicly pressed President Trump and leading congressional Republicans to release materials from two federal investigations into Epstein. Trump called Greene a traitor.
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MARJORIE TAYLOR GREEN: I never owed him anything, but I fought for him and for America First. And he called me a traitor for being with these women.
GREENGLAS: The cracks have been growing over the past year as Greene has increasingly pointed out that she believes the president has failed to deal with the Gaza war and expiring health care subsidies. And she did this not only on social media or right-wing publications, but also on programs like ABC's The View.
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WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Someone you might be surprised to see here.
JOY BEHAR: (Laughter).
GOLDBERG: Please welcome Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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NATHAN PRICE: I thought, if this is the first time I've seen this man, he sounds like your average congressman from “Schoolhouse Rock!”
GREENGLAS: That's University of North Georgia professor Nathan Price, who says this new identity may be hard to reconcile with the Greene many Americans first knew, a congresswoman who has embraced QAnon conspiracy theories, liked a post that called for violence against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and criticized a 2020 school shooting survivor.
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GREENE: …Using your lobby and the money behind it, try to take away my Second Amendment rights. Don't you have anything to say about yourself?
GRINGLAS: Even Trump publicly wondered: What happened to Marjorie? Georgia Republican strategist Brian Robinson says it's a fair question.
BRIAN ROBINSON: I'm open to the idea that she had a road to Damascus moment, a conversion, that she sees the mistakes of toxicity and wants something better.
GRINGLAS: Robinson says this may be a natural evolution for the former suburban CrossFit gym owner.
ROBINSON: You know, we love electing outsiders to Congress. They go to Congress with very little understanding of how it works. And if at some point you say, “I want to do significant things that will make America better,” then I'll have to do it a little differently.
GRINGLAS: Or she could try to broaden her appeal for higher office. Trump said last week that he showed polling results of Greene from earlier this year and suggested she would fail in races for governor or Senate.
ROBINSON: Is she deliberately letting women know that the good old boys' club is ignoring us? Do I understand your difficulties?
GRINGLAS: Both Robinson and Price say Greene's evolution has more to do with style than substance. She has recanted some of her more controversial views, but the anti-interventionist and anti-elite principles that brought her to Congress remain at the core of her personality.
RICKY HESS: What she's responding to is the belief that the president has changed on these issues.
GRINGLAS: Ricky Hess, chairman of the Paulding County Republican Party, spends a lot of time talking to voters in the 14th Congressional District.
HESS: The issues they want to talk about include high property taxes, high health care costs, whether their children will be able to buy a home after graduation.
GRINGLAS: Hess says Greene's “America First” worldview resonates in this rural, predominantly working-class area.
HESS: I think she has a good understanding of what her constituents want, and I have to believe that most of her actions serve that purpose.
GRINGLAS: Hess says voters see Trump and Greene as being on the same team. But Martha Zoeller, host of a political talk radio show that airs throughout North Georgia, says not everyone has made up their minds.
MARTHA ZOLLER: People are a little shaky, if you want to know the truth. We haven't had many listeners talking about it because I think they're waiting to see what happens.
GRINGLAS: Zoller says the conflict isn't just about two big personalities squabbling on a national stage.
ZOLLER: I think the big debate that we Republicans will have over the next three years is what is the Republican movement if it isn't Trump?
GRINGLAS: Zoller says Greene seems to want to be part of this discussion.
Sam Greenglass, NPR News, Washington.
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