
Marjorie Taylor Greene says Republican party has lost touch with its base
After telling the Daily Mail this week she was questioning whether she still belongs in the Republican fold, the Georgia congresswoman told the Guardian she would not become independent or seek a third party option.
'No – I'm urging my own party to support 'America first',' Greene said.
Still, she made clear resounding frustration with GOP leadership and her place within the party's planning.
'I don't know if the Republican party is leaving me, or if I'm kind of not relating to Republican party as much any more,' Greene said in the Daily Mail interview. 'I don't know which one it is.'
Greene, who boasts 7.5 million followers on X and commands one of the largest social media audiences of any Republican woman, accused party leaders of betraying core conservative principles.
She did not criticize Trump himself, instead preferring to express her ire for what she attempted to paint as political elites.
'I think the Republican party has turned its back on 'America first' and the workers and just regular Americans,' she said, warning that GOP leadership was reverting to its 'neocon' past under the influence of what she termed the 'good ole boys' network.
The 51-year-old lawmaker, in the roughly six-month mark following Trump's return to the White House, said she was particularly frustrated with the House speaker, Mike Johnson, saying: 'I'm not afraid of Mike Johnson at all.'
Her remarks reflect a broader pattern of voter dissatisfaction with traditional party structures. Americans appear to also be holding deeply unfavorable views of both major parties: a July Wall Street Journal poll found 63% view the Democratic party unfavorably, its worst rating in 35 years, while Republicans fare only marginally better in most surveys.
Independent or independent-leaning Americans now account for nearly half the electorate, according to July Gallup polling, and public support has increasingly shifted toward Democrats through those leaners in recent months.
On Monday, Greene used social media to criticize the lack of accountability over what she deems key issues to the base, sharing a table showing no arrests for the 'Russian Collusion Hoax', 'Jan 6th', and '2020 Election'.
'Like what happened all those issues? You know that I don't know what the hell happened with the Republican Party. I really don't,' she said in the interview. 'But I'll tell you one thing, the course that it's on, I don't want to have anything to do with it, and I just don't care any more.'
Her recent bills have targeted unconventional Republican territory: preventing cloud-seeding, making English the official US language, and cutting capital gains taxes on homes. She is also the first Republican in Congress to label the crisis in Gaza a genocide, and has called for ending foreign aid and using the so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) to cut down fraud and waste in the government.
Greene acknowledged her isolation within the party, saying: 'I'm going alone right now on the issues that I'm speaking about.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump declines to say if he supports or opposes potential Gaza takeover by Israel
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump declined to say whether he supported or opposed a potential military takeover of Gaza by Israel and said his administration's focus was on increasing food access to the Palestinian enclave under assault from Washington's ally. "As far as the rest of it, I really can't say. That's going to be pretty much up to Israel," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met senior security officials on Tuesday, with media reporting he favored a complete military takeover of Gaza.


Daily Mail
25 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Marjorie Taylor Greene begs Trump to pardon disgraced fabulist George Santos after dramatic letter from prison
Marjorie Taylor Greene penned a letter urging Donald Trump to pardon disgraced former Congressman George Santos following the release of his emotional letter from behind bars demanding clemency. Santos was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and identity theft and reported to jail less than two weeks ago. He was found guilty of fabricating thousands of dollars in campaign finance records during his successful 2022 congressional campaign. Prior to his conviction, a 2023 House Ethics Committee report found that he spent donors' money on Botox treatments, trips to casinos and at high-end luxury retailers. In an emotional letter penned from prison on Monday, Santos said he's facing harsh bathroom conditions in the medium security prison in New Jersey. Santos, 37, claimed that he started to cry after putting on a 'fluorescent yellow jumpsuit that made me feel like a caution sign in human form.' 'The tears came faster than I could stop them,' Santos wrote. 'I didn't care who saw. That reflection, in that moment, made the weight of my decisions, my mistakes, and the road that led me there all too real.' 'The bathroom, though, deserves its own horror novel,' he continued. 'The closest thing I can compare it to is an abandoned gym locker room from a forgotten high school - grim, damp, smelling of mildew and regret.' In a letter to the Justice Department on Monday, Greene urged the administration to ask the president for clemency consideration for Santos. The conservative firebrand claimed in her letter that Santos' sentence 'extends far beyond what is warranted.' She called his seven-year sentence 'excessive' and noted that other lawmakers who have 'done far worse still walk free.' 'George Santos has taken responsibility. He's shown remorse. It's time to correct this injustice. We must demand equal justice under the law!' But it's curious timing as Greene has fallen out of Trump's tight inner circle and GOP leadership. Earlier this week, the Georgia lawmaker told the Daily Mail that she believes the GOP is abandoning the 'America first' principles of the MAGA base. 'I think the Republican Party has turned its back on America First and the workers and just regular Americans,' she said. Although Greene did reiterate her loyalty to Trump, she has split with the administration's stance on Gaza by calling Israel's actions a 'genocide.' MTG also recently demanded the DOJ release all files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Greene's letter also comes after Trump declined to rule out pardoning Santos during an interview with Newsmax last week. However, the president noted that Santos did 'lie like hell' during his Congressional tenure. Trump went on to praise Santos because his 'vote was solid' for Republicans, while adding, 'And I didn't know him, but he was 100 percent for Trump.' The president concluded that no one has approached him about pardoning the former GOP lawmaker. Santos has previously stated that he asked the White House for clemency consideration. In the past, Trump has provided sweeping pardons and clemency to individuals who have proven to be loyal supporters of his administration. Upon assuming office for his second term, Trump issued pardons for all individuals imprisoned for the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021. Santos became embroiled in numerous scandals for lying about his education, employment history and personal wealth. After a scathing Ethics Committee report on his campaign's financial abuses, Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023. He became the sixth lawmaker ever to be expelled from Congress and the only member thrown out without having been convicted of a crime. During this time, Greene was one of the few lawmakers who publicly supported Santos in Congress. Meanwhile, Santos dismissed his indictments - and eventual conviction - for money laundering and fraud as a 'witch hunt.'


The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
US judge blocks Trump officials from diverting disaster prevention grants
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from diverting funds from a multibillion-dollar grant program designed to protect communities against natural disasters. US district judge Richard Stearns in Boston issued a preliminary injunction preventing the government from spending money allocated to the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (Bric) program for other purposes. Twenty mostly Democratic-led states sued the administration last month, saying the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) lacked power to cancel the Bric program without congressional approval. Fema is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Neither agency immediately responded to requests for comment. Created in 2018 during Donald Trump's first term, the Bric program helps state and local governments protect major infrastructure such as roads and bridges before the occurrence of floods, hurricanes and other disasters. According to the lawsuit, Fema approved about $4.5bn in grants for nearly 2,000 projects, primarily in coastal states, over the last four years. But the agency announced in April it would end the program, calling it wasteful, ineffective and politicized. Stearns said that while Fema does not appear to have since canceled grants, states should not have to wait to sue until after they lose funding, while the cancellation of new grants suggested Fema considered an eventual shutdown a fait accompli. He also said the states have shown a realistic chance of irreparable harm if the Bric program ended. 'There is an inherent public interest in ensuring that the government follows the law, and the potential hardship accruing to the states from the funds being repurposed is great,' the judge wrote. 'The Bric program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives,' Stearns added. 'The potential hardship to the government, in contrast, is minimal.' Led by Massachusetts and Washington, the 20 states that sued also include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. The offices of Massachusetts' and Washington's attorneys general had no immediate comment.