Marjorie Taylor Greene, now just days away from stepping down as a congresswoman for Georgia, has said she “was just so naive” for believing Donald Trump was a man of the people.
In a lengthy interview with the New York Times that examines her break with the US president after years of devotion, Ms Greene explained that a series of minor ruptures with Trump culminated in a total breach after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was killed in September.
The third-term Georgia congresswoman said she was watching Mr Kirk’s memorial service on television when his widow Erika said she forgave her husband’s killer.
But then Mr Trump took the stage and said Mr Kirk was “a missionary with a noble spirit” who did not “hate” his opponents, but Mr Trump said he disagreed. “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them,” the US president said.
READ MORE
Ms Greene said: “That was absolutely the worst statement. It just shows where his heart is. And that’s the difference, with her having a sincere Christian faith, and proves that he does not have any faith.”
Ms Greene said her turn away from unrepentant Maga acolyte came in that moment and she abandoned her training “to never apologise and to never admit when you’re wrong”.
[ Donald Trump feuds with once ally Marjorie Taylor Greene ahead of Epstein voteOpens in new window ]
“As a Christian, I don’t believe in doing that,” she said. “I agree with Erika Kirk, who did the hardest thing possible and said it out loud.”
Ms Greene said she later told a friend that after Mr Kirk died, “I realised that I’m part of this toxic culture. I really started looking at my faith. I wanted to be more like Christ”.
The Maga landscape post-Kirk has been showing signs of fracture, and Ms Greene has found herself at odds with administration and Republican positions, declaring the war in Gaza a “genocide” as well as casting doubt on economic, healthcare and foreign policy positions that she says do not prioritise working-class Americans.
“I was just so naive and outside of politics,” Ms Greene said. “It was easy for me to naively believe.”
In a statement, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said: “President Trump remains the undisputed leader of the greatest and fastest-growing political movement in American history – the Maga movement.
“On the other hand, Congresswoman Greene is quitting on her constituents in the middle of her term and abandoning the consequential fight we’re in – we don’t have time for her petty bitterness.”
Ms Greene’s break with Mr Trump and the Republican leadership in Congress was, she told the New York Times, completed over a vote to release investigative files related to the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Ms Greene said the Epstein files represented “everything wrong with Washington” and said it was a story of “rich, powerful elites doing horrible things and getting away with it. And the women are the victims”.
After meeting victims, she said Mr Trump called her and yelled “my friends will get hurt” if the files were released.
In the interview, Ms Greene said she had been wrong to accuse Democrats of treason. She acknowledged she was now a political outcast from both sides of the political divide.
“I’m, like, radioactive,” she said.
“Everyone’s like, ‘She’s changed,’” Ms Greene said. “I haven’t changed my views. But I’ve matured. I’ve developed depth. I’ve learned Washington and I’ve come to understand the brokenness of the place.” – The Guardian
