When President Donald Trump was booked and fingerprinted at the Fulton County Jail in 2023, there was just one elected official there to support him — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
When Trump was huddling with his lawyers to defend himself in criminal cases around the country, Greene joined then-U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to hold “America First” rallies from California to Florida to keep the MAGA movement going in his absence.
When Trump was in New York City to be booked on fraud charges there, Greene was there again, proclaiming his innocence as loudly as he was.
Through it all, Greene knew her deep red, pro-Trump congressional district had her back.
But Greene is finding out the hard way that loyalty to the president is a one-way street. The congresswoman from Rome, Georgia, now finds herself in the unexpected position of battling against Trump instead of for him.
Brian K. Pritchard, a conservative host of a streaming talk show based in North Georgia who has long supported Trump, said much of what Greene is saying about the Epstein files and the cost of living resonates with the MAGA base, no matter her break with the president.
Greene also got public support from Denise Burns, who chaired the Republican Party committee in Greene’s 14th District for the last four years. When Trump called Greene a “traitor” on a social media post, Burns jumped in.
“I can confirm that our congresswoman worked her butt off and spent her own money relentlessly supporting President Trump during the exile,” she wrote on X. “She was mocked and ridiculed by other GA politicians for her stance. To call her a traitor is an insult to the 850k ppl she represents in Congress.”
State Rep. Will Wade, R-Dawsonville, said the Trump-Greene fallout still barely breaks through among the constituents he talks to, compared with the anxieties they share about paying for groceries and insurance.
If anybody expresses an opinion, it has been mostly positive.
“I’m very close to people in the faith community, and they very much appreciate her softening her tone,” Wade said.
The reality is that voters have shown very recently they can support Trump and the Republicans he targets at the same time. In the same year Greene was first reelected in 2022, both she and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp won the 14th District GOP primary and general election by wide margins, even as Kemp faced a Trump-backed primary challenge from former U.S. Sen. David Perdue.
Many Republicans in the state would rather battle Democrats than watch two of their biggest stars go at it in Washington, D.C.
“President Trump and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have both been tremendous assets to the conservative movement and the Republican Party here in Georgia and across the country,” Chairman Josh McKoon said in a statement. “I’m confident that any differences of opinion that arise from time to time will be resolved in the spirit of friendship and shared purpose.”
If a divorce happens, it looks like Trump and Greene are going to have to share custody of MAGA for now.
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