Donald Trump Tries to Tame Marjorie Taylor Greene
Former President Donald Trump is shown in the left, while Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is pictured on the right. Trump on Wednesday suggested that Greene’s failed effort to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was stirring “chaos” among Republicans that could hurt his 2024 election chances.
Former President Donald Trump has hit out at Representative Majorie Taylor Greene for potentially stirring “chaos” that could jeopardize his election chances by pursuing her failed attempt to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Greene, a favorite of Trump’s MAGA movement, has been lobbying for Johnson’s removal since he allowed military aid for Ukraine to pass through Congress, arguing that the speaker is a member of “the uniparty” and should lose his job like former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did last year.
The Georgia Republican’s push to vacate Johnson’s speakership failed overwhelmingly in the House on Wednesday night, with 359 members, including all but 11 Republicans and 32 Democrats, voting to table the motion.
Trump praised Greene for her “spirit” and “fight” but warned that she was encouraging GOP “disunity” in a post to Truth Social shortly before the motion was killed. The former president urged House Republicans to help fight “radical left Democrats” by voting to table Greene’s motion.
“I absolutely love Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Trump wrote. “She’s got Spirit, she’s got Fight, and I believe she’ll be around, and on our side, for a long time to come. However, right now, Republicans have to be fighting the Radical Left Democrats, and all the Damage they have done to our Country.”
“With a Majority of One, shortly growing to three or four, we’re not in a position of voting on a Motion to Vacate,” he added. “We are leading in the Presidential Polls by a lot, both Nationally and in the Swing States … If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything!”
Trump went on to call Johnson “a good man who is trying very hard,” before saying that he “also wish[es] certain things were done over the last period of two months” and requesting to “vote for ‘the motion to table'” if they want to “win big.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Greene’s office via email on Wednesday night.
Although a significant number of GOP lawmakers oppose further Ukraine aid and other measures that Johnson has allowed to pass through Congress, Trump is far from the only Republican to criticize Greene’s motion to vacate, with many of the congresswoman’s colleagues booing her when she introduced the motion on Wednesday.
Republican Representative Kelly Armstrong told CNN’s Manu Raju on Wednesday that the motion was “the congressional version of a temper tantrum,” while GOP Congressman Dusty Johnson called it a “dumpster fire” that was “not going to do one thing to deliver a conservative victory.”
Representative Bob Good, chair of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, said during a Sunday appearance on NewsNation’s The Hill that Greene was “not acting in the best interests of [former] President Trump” by moving forward with the motion “six months before an election.”
Johnson has been largely dismissive of Greene’s efforts to remove him, insisting on multiple occasions that he does not spend much time “thinking about” the congresswoman and her plans.
Start your unlimited Newsweek trial