Speaker 1 (00:01):
It was completely unforeseen, a shocker, Marjorie Taylor Greene resigning. The warrior congresswoman so dogged and fierce leaving the field of battle, her alliance with President Trump shattered. Her video resignation statement last month that she'll be leaving Congress a year before her term expires came after President Trump said he would throw his support to someone else for her seat. She became famous, some would say infamous, with her incendiary insults and belief in conspiracy theories, such as 9/11 was an inside job and that the shooting at the Parkland school in Florida was staged.
(00:47)
At one time, the president had no more ardent defender, but things soured over Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender accused of trafficking girls as young as 14. Does Greene's defection signal a split in MAGA? Is she leaving politics for good? And exactly why is she leaving?
Speaker 2 (01:12):
It wasn't a decision that I came to lightly, but it was a very important decision for myself and also for my family.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
It was sudden.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
It was sudden, but a lot of things changed. I stood for women who were raped when they were 14 years old and the president that I fought for for five years called me a traitor for that, and so that changed the landscape of things.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So, I'm going to ask you straight out. Did you surrender? Did Donald Trump run you out of town?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
No, not at all. Actually, Lesley, it's more like this, is I said in my statement, "I will be no one's battered wife," and I meant it. And I won't allow the system to abuse me anymore.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
You really feel abused? He did come after you pretty hard. He called you a lunatic, I'm quoting. He said, "All she does is complain, complain, complain," in caps, and then he called you a traitor. So, he hit you, whacked you?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yes,. He did this in the same time span where President Trump brought in the Al-Qaeda leader that was wanted by the US government, who is now the president of Syria. Then, within a week, he brought in the Crown Prince MBS, who murdered an American journalist. And then, he brought in the newly-elected Democrat socialist mayor of New York. That was the time span that he called me a traitor.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
You decided not to stay and fight, you decided to give in?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
After President Trump called me a traitor, I got a pipe bomb threat on my house and then I got several direct death threats on my son.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
On your son?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
On my son.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
You say the president put your life in danger. You blame him. You say, "He fueled a hotbed of threats against me," and that you blame him for the threats against your son?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
The subject line for the direct death threats on my son was his words, "Marjorie Traitor Greene." Those are death threats directly fueled by President Trump. And I told him, I told JD Vance, I told them all. I sent those directly to them.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And response?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
JD Vance replied back to me, "We'll look into it." I got response back from President Trump that I will keep private, but it wasn't very nice.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Give us a hint of what the president said.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
It was extremely unkind.
Video (03:48):
Her life is in danger. Who's that?
(03:51)
Marjorie Taylor Greene. She says the-
(03:53)
Marjorie Traitor Greene. I don't think her life is in danger. Frankly, I don't think anybody cares about her.
(04:01)
Four more years.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
This new intense vitriol between them is jarring, considering she's been one of the president's most passionate and loyal foot soldiers, often in a red MAGA hat. She voted with him 98% of the time.
Video (04:18):
We're going to reelect our favorite president, the greatest president in the United States history, Donald J. Trump, right, Georgia?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
One of the president's biggest beefs with Greene was about her harping on Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
We did talk about the Epstein files, and he was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files. I fully believe that those women deserve everything they're asking. They're asking for all of it to come out, they deserve it. And he was furious with me.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
What did he say?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
He said that it was going to hurt people. I had asked him, "These women are the ones that were hurt. They were raped at 14. They were raped at 16." I watched them stand in front of the press trembling, their bodies shaking as they were telling their stories, many of them for the first time. And I had told him, I said, "You have all kinds of people come in the White House. Have these women come in the White House. These women deserve to be heard."
Speaker 1 (05:24):
He said to you, "People will get hurt."
Speaker 2 (05:27):
People will get hurt. I don't know what that means. I don't know who they are.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
There were other clashes with the president. She started publicly criticizing him in May on one issue after the next, accusing him of betraying his MAGA America-first promises. You went after his, I think you said, "trying to entangle us in foreign wars." You said, "Air Force One should be parked. No more foreign trips."
Speaker 2 (05:58):
For an America-first president, the number one focus should have been domestic policy and it wasn't, and so of course I was critical because those were my campaign promises. Once we fix everything here, then fine. We'll talk to the rest of the world.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
She said in her resignation video that the president has gone establishment forsaking the base and her.
Video (06:23):
If I am cast aside by the president and the MAGA political machine and replaced by neocons, big pharma, big tech, military industrial war complex, foreign leaders, and the elite donor class-
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Are you saying that the president now is siding with those establishment powerful people and against MAGA?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
He passed a crypto bill that helped out all the crypto donors. He has served Israel's interest, even attacking Iran. He has served big pharma. He didn't take away the COVID vaccines that we want to see taken away. So, those are the areas that are still getting everything they want while we're still out here saying we want to see action on areas for the American people, not for the major industries and the big donors.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Greene has built her reputation on feisty combat and inflammatory insults, like calling President Joe Biden a liar during the 2023 State of the Union. It's been five years of almost constant drama.
Video (07:34):
I think your fake eyelashes are messing up [inaudible 00:07:38].
Speaker 1 (07:38):
With her adding fuel to the nation's loss of civility. Then, three weeks ago, she went on CNN with a surprise, a mea culpa.
Video (07:48):
I would like to say humbly, I'm sorry for taking part in the toxic politics.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
But it became clear to us that she hasn't entirely lost her appetite for combat.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
It's the most toxic political culture and it's not helping the American people.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
But you contributed to that. You were out there pounding, insulting people.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Lesley, you've contributed to it as well with your own program-
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Me?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yes, you're accusatory, just like you did just then.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
I know you're accusing me, but I'm smiling-
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You're accusing me, but we don't-
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I am accusing you.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
But we don't have to accuse one another.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
I want you to respond to what you have done in terms of insulting people, yelling at people, and then saying-
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I'd like for you to respond for that. No, you can respond to that.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
I don't insult people.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You do in the way you question, and you're accusing me right now.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
One thing she did want to talk about, Congress's failure to pass spending bills, meaning that she has found it hard to get funds for projects in her district.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It's an utter failure, not just to the people in my district, but every district across the country.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
We met Greene, 51, in her district in Georgia. Before Congress, she ran her family's construction company, then opened up her own CrossFit gym.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Affordability is a real issue.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
President says it's not. Says it's a hoax, affordability.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
It's one of the top issues, not only in my district, it's across the country.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
The affordability of health insurance caused Greene to side with the Democrats during the government shutdown to support extending healthcare subsidies.
(09:35)
Did you ever imagine that you would be standing with the Democrats on the Epstein files and on healthcare subsidies?
Speaker 2 (09:44):
No, I never imagined that.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
She's not afraid to be an outlier. She's the only Republican member of Congress to call the war in Gaza a genocide and…
(09:55)
Why did you vote against the Antisemitism Awareness Act?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Since I've been a member of Congress, we've had several resolutions that constantly denounce antisemitism. I've already voted denouncing antisemitism many times before. It becomes an exercise that they force on Congress and I simply got tired of it.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Is there no value in having the United States Congress reaffirm the fact that they denounce antisemitism in the face of a growing issue, a growing problem?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
We don't have to get on our knees and say it over and over again when we are-
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Get on our knees?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yes, we do not have to get on our knees-
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Well, most members of Congress disagree with you.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Well, most members of Congress take donations from AIPAC, and I don't.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
AIPAC is an American pro-Israel lobbying group. Greene's perspective indicates a growing rift within MAGA over support for Israel.
(10:59)
Are you MAGA?
Speaker 2 (11:01):
I am America first.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
And that's not the same as MAGA?
Speaker 2 (11:05):
MAGA is President Trump's phrase, that's his political policies. I call myself America first.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
But you're not saying you're MAGA?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I'm America first. Yep.
Video (11:20):
God bless you, President Trump. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Almost overnight, she's gone from a close Trump friend to foe. One of the few Republicans willing to take him on.
(11:32)
I'm going to ask you about this almost solid support he has among Republicans in Congress. Is there, in that support, fear? Does the support come about because they're afraid that they'll get death threats?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I think they're terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yes. And they're watching what happened to you?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Behind the scenes, do they talk differently?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
How?
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Oh, it would shock people.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Well, let's shock people.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Okay. I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024 they all started, excuse my language, Lesley, kissing his ass and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time.
Video (12:30):
And let's break it down real simple-
Speaker 1 (12:31):
This past week when we saw Greene at a public hearing in her district without a MAGA hat, it didn't appear that her break from President Trump and MAGA has cost her popularity.
(12:49)
People want to know, is this a true conversion, a true change of heart, or is it a shrewd political calculation? A lot of people think you're doing it and that you, in a year or so, are going to run for some other office.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I have zero plans, zero desire to run for president. I would hate the Senate. I'm not running for governor. But Lesley, it doesn't matter how many times I say it. I'll have face-to-face conversations with people and I'll flat out tell them to their face and they won't believe me. And they're like, "Oh, yeah. Sure." And then wink at me and I'm like, "Okay." I'm just like, "I don't know how to make it more clear."
Speaker 1 (13:30):
You mean you just jumped off the cliff and you don't know where you're going to swim to?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Surprise, surprise, I'm not your politician with a whole itinerary of plans or political ambitions.