A headline-grabbing, conservative congresswoman surprised the nation on Friday by calling it quits after a high-profile tiff with President Donald Trump.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, announced November 21 she would be ending her short congressional career mid-term rather than continuing a tit-for-tat argument with the guy whose policies she’s historically supported.
Greene and President Trump at one point were more or less fully aligned ideologically, sharing the view that liberals have turned the U.S. into a dangerous, crime-filled, woke snake-pit where illegals trump natives in personal liberties.
But recently the woman best known by her initials, MTG, began sniping at the president for issues ranging from the release of the Epstein files to support for Israel to the continuation of the Affordable Care Act – all suggesting, some say, that he is her straw man as she moderates her famous political venom for a 2028 White House run.
Political pundits have been claiming that the tart-voiced Greene has been “softening” her razor-sharp tongue in recent weeks.
If true the question is why?
First off, she was facing a primary re-election challenge next year and Trump has vowed to campaign for her opponent in the wake of her criticisms of him.
So veering away from the MAGA wing of the GOP might endear her to some of Trump’s wavering base, part of which lately is questioning his brand.
The other reason Greene may be going soft on conservatism is three words – White House 2028.
Greene could still appeal in a presidential primary to part of the MAGA crowd. But arguably her trademark rhetoric might be too offensive for independents and conservative Democrats needed to win a general election.
As for speculation Greene is running, she lashed out at Time magazine November 23 in a 500-word X post blasting the outlet for quoting sources she’s considering it.
“I’m not running for president and never said I wanted to and have only laughed about it when anyone would mention it,” Greene said. “If you fell for those headlines, you’re still being lulled everyday into psychosis by the Political Industrial Complex that always has an agenda when it does something like this.”
Greene, who was elected to Georgia’s 14th Congressional District in 2020 and has been overwhelmingly re-elected since, said she was resigning over her disillusionment with the nation’s current political climate, stemming from a recent political split with Trump.
Before Greene even thinks about measuring the drapes in the Oval, she’s taking them down in her House office.
In a lengthy statement and 10-minute video posted November 21, Greene branded the president “hateful” over his decision to retract his endorsement of her for re-election, a move which saw him dismiss Greene as a “ranting lunatic.”
The Georgia lawmaker cited a growing disgust with the political establishment in Washington and her fight for the release of the so-called Epstein files that formed the brunt of her feud with Trump.
She raged against the “political industrial complex” which she claimed uses Americans as “pawns in an endless game of division.”
Greene said that it would be unfair for her “sweet little district” to “endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president we all fought for” and even added that “Republicans will likely lose the midterms.”
The southern firebrand went on to claim she has “always been despised in Washington, D.C., and just never fit in.”
In any event, political life on the national stage just won’t be the same without a congresswoman calling a fellow female Republican a bitch, as Greene did on the House floor two years ago in a spat with U.S. Rep. Laurel Boebert, R-Colorado.
Greene at the time had accused Boebert of having copied articles of impeachment she filed against Biden, a charge Boebert denied.
The question now is whether Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will schedule a special election to fill what would be less than a year in office for Greene’s successor before the new Congress takes office in 2027.
Georgia law requires the governor to issue an order calling an election for a U.S. House vacancy within ten days of the vacancy. Greene’s resignation takes effect January 5, 2026.
Georgia’s 2026 primary will be in May.
Kemp could call for a special election before then or simply let Greene’s seat remain vacant until the state’s primary rolls around.
Greene’s capitulation to Trump is a shocking end to a loud, if not always persuasive, voice of the GOP’s right flank.
It’s always a gamble to take on a president, especially one who cares even less now about his controversial bombast than he did before – if he really ever cared at all.
“Once I left her, she resigned because she never would have survived a primary,” Trump said on the White House lawn just hours after Greene cried uncle.
As Monica Crowley, who is Trump’s chief of protocol, posted on X the next day, “Imagine still thinking you could go up against President Trump and win.”
