Marjorie Taylor Greene Is A Trap Set For Dems They Must Walk Into
It’s no secret that in recent years the Republican party has been infiltrated and co-opted by a fanatical sect of conspiracy theorists that have pledged their fealty to the Trumpian brand of politics. Much like the takeover by evangelical southerners of the GOP in the 70’s, this group now represents what the party has become and signals what lies ahead.
And as expected, in response to the rising prevalence of this ideology among conservative voters, there are now elected officials in Congress that espouse these beliefs and further widen the chasm in modern day politics.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman representing Georgia’s 14th congressional district, is one of these officials and has faced backlash for her outlandish remarks and behavior in the time leading up to her election.
Running in the 10th most Republican district in the nation according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index, Greene essentially ran opposed as her Democratic challenger, Kevin Van Ausdal, dropped out of the race less than two months before the election. Citing personal reasons, Van Ausdal even went so far as to leave the state, after receiving death threats from crazed QAnon supporters backing Greene.
Her time in office has not been any more civilized, as she was one of the 139 Republican members of the House who opposed the Electoral College results in Congress on January 6th, making wild claims about rampant voter fraud without evidence. This was even after having to take shelter as crazed Trump supporters, white nationalists, and QAnon conspiracy theorists descended upon and invaded the Capitol Building after being incited by then-president Donald Trump at a rally down the street.
Greene also filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden on his first full day in office, claiming Biden is “willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, [and] Ukrainian energy companies.” The impeachment articles are meritless and have not been brought forward for debate or a vote.
Most recently, Greene received her committee assignment in the House, being placed on the House Education and Labor Committee. This has received a considerable amount of backlash from other members of the House, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and a very vocal portion of the electorate.
The pushback against the assignment comes in response to Greene’s comments and actions concerning a string of school shootings, including those at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL.
As reported by the Washington Post, in a 2018 Facebook comment that stated that school shootings were not real, Greene responded, “That’s all true.”
Adding to this has been the resurfacing of videos of Greene chasing and berating Parkland survivor and gun-reform advocate David Hogg. As he walked towards the Capitol in March 2019 to meet with members of Congress to discuss gun control efforts, Hogg was hounded by Greene who hurled unfounded claims at him while he continued to walk silently. As the video ends, Greene claims Hogg is being funded by billionaire George Soros, a common target of far-right conspiracies.
Greene has also made comments regarding conspiracy theories surrounding the September 11th terrorist attacks and has supported violence against Democrat politicians, including Speaker Pelosi. Greene posted a now-deleted picture of herself on Facebook where she stood next to pictures of Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib holding an AR-15, with text that read, “Hate America leftists (who) want to rip our country apart.”
While calls for her expulsion from the House have increased, Greene has doubled down on her positions, saying in a statement, “They are coming after me because I’m a threat to their goal of Socialism. They are coming after me because they know I represent the people, not the politicians. They are coming after me because like President Trump, I will always defend conservative values. They want to take me out because I represent the people. And they absolutely hate it.”
California Democrat Jimmy Gomez has announced that he plans to introduce a resolution to expel Greene early next week, with 30 Democrats having signed on as co-sponsors. The resolution is almost certain to fail, as 70 Republicans would need to vote in favor of the resolution for it to pass.
The GOP would most certainly not want to see Greene removed from office, as her prominence and outspokenness works in the Republicans’ favor.
With Donald Trump no longer in office or on social media to obfuscate the rest of the party’s dealings, Republicans were without the distraction they had employed for the past four years that allowed them to push their obstructionist agenda unseen.
As the second impeachment trial of Trump is set to begin and Republican leadership has been coming under fire for their continued support of the disgraced former president, Greene has provided a major target for liberals to focus on. With some of the heat now off of them, GOP leaders like Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy have begun to harp about “cancel culture” and “radical liberal agenda” in an effort to try and galvanize their fracturing party.
Greene is the snare that is designed to slow down Democrats from implementing their policy plans and stymie Biden’s presidency in its opening days. Democrats have no choice but to walk into it and try and push forward.
If Dems were to ignore Greene’s transgressions, especially in light of the Capitol riots, they would be excusing the rhetoric and propaganda that directly led to those attacks taking place.
While conservative media will undoubtedly take swipes at liberals for trying to “cancel” Greene, Democrats need to use this opportunity to shine a light on the lunacy of the QAnon conspiracies and far-right fringes of the Republican Party.
As reports of Republican voters leaving the party in droves continue to come out in response to the failed insurrection attempt at the Capitol, exposing GOP leadership for their embrace of dangerous ideologies could further weaken the party and set up Democrats to bring parts of the electorate thought to be lost back into the fold.
It won’t be an easy battle, but it is one that must be fought. Democrats have to be willing to take the risk and push back against people like Greene who are attempting to give a voice to dangerous beliefs that have already left five dead on January 6th. Not doing so would only embolden the groups who attacked the Capitol and lead to more upheaval and violence.
