It’s up to you, not us. This is how the separation talk between the Freedom Caucus and one of its probably best-known but certainly loudest members could go: Marjorie Taylor Greene, MTG for short.
According to media reports, the right wing of the Republicans in the US House of Representatives gave up on MTG two weeks ago – allegedly because she insulted a colleague. Now you don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist like Taylor Greene to suspect more behind her sacking.
The Freedom Caucus is one of the most influential syndicates within the Grand Old Party. The connection applies even among the rights especially on the right. Prominent members include figures such as Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and Mark Meadows – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was one of the founders. Aside from their sentiments, the members of parliament are united by an almost unshakable loyalty to Donald Trump.
Two weeks ago, the members of the Freedom Caucus apparently voted to expel the Georgia MPs – according to information from “NBC News” with an “overwhelming majority”. It is not entirely clear whether MTG’s sacking has been formally completed. “As far as I know, that’s how it is,” quote “Politico” and CNN the caucus member Andy Harris. According to “NBC News”, the meeting took place early in the morning, on the last day before the summer break and without an announcement. Possibly not enough members were present for the result to be quorate. It is therefore possible that the vote will have to be repeated. However, that should be a mere formality.
It would be the first time ever that the right connection kicked out one of their members. That it came to this was the consequence “of some of the things she did,” Harris said. One of the crucial of those “things” is said to have been a verbal outburst two days before the vote. MTG called her caucus colleague Lauren Boebert a “little bitch”. The 49-year-old didn’t even deny that she called Boebert “little bitch” – on the contrary. When asked, she is said to have added a juicy word. It wasn’t the first time that MTG and Boebert, herself one of the most radical radicals, clashed.
Now, however, the word “bitch” undoubtedly belongs to the Trumpist’s more civilized vocabulary.
Because exceeding the limits of what can be said is her daily bread. She not only made openly racist remarks, but also repeatedly shared absurd conspiracy theories with Washington: Among other things, she claimed that Jewish bankers had ignited forest fires in the USA using lasers from space, and that there was a secret plan to turn heterosexual people against homosexuals exchange people. Of course, she also propagates Trump’s unsubstantiated claim of election theft. For her own oath of office, she wore a corona mask with the inscription “Trump won”. Taylor Greene echoes everything her president says – after all, she climbed the corporate ladder on his back.
The Freedom Caucus has so far let their verbal gaffes pass unmoved. It is at least doubtful that MTG’s failure to face Boebert ultimately caused her to be banned. The more likely explanation: She gambled away the power poker.
MTG had already been unfaithful to her parliamentary family earlier this year. While most of her ultra-right clique resisted the election of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House (Stern reported), Taylor Greene had backed him from the start – according to experts, she had let her new loyalty be politically gilded beforehand. McCarthy’s election marathon turned into an embarrassing fiasco for the GOP, but MTG ended up becoming the kingmaker.
It should not be the last break with the Freedom Caucus. In the escalating debt dispute with the White House, the initially stubborn McCarthy agreed to a compromise with President Joe Biden – high treason in the eyes of many right-wing politicians. MTG, on the other hand, was probably doomed by their opportune proximity to McCarthy.
The fact that she not only causes headaches among the Democrats she hates (which she has already called a “party of pedophiles”), but also, to put it mildly, irritates the big names in her own party is nothing new. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called MTG’s views a “cancer” for the party.
MTG itself reacted defiantly to its alleged expulsion from the Freedom Caucus. It “serves primarily northwest Georgia and not a group in Washington,” said in a statement Thursday. Your party now has “two years to show America what a strong, unified Republican-led Congress will do if President Trump wins the White House in 2024. That’s my focus, nothing else,” MTG continued.
Will MTG now start looking for a new political home? Unlikely. You don’t want it on the far right, it’s too right for everything towards the middle. Until she knows where to go, she’ll probably listen to herself as always: “Avoiding distractions is key to staying focused,” she tweeted Thursday. Below she posted a video of herself playing golf. An individual sport.
Quellen: “Politico”; CNN; “The Hill”; “NBC News”
