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Washington — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene argued President Trump lacks self-awareness as he continues to hurl insults at the conservative firebrand who was once one of his fiercest allies in Congress.
“I actually am starting to feel very sorry for President Trump,” the Georgia Republican told CBS News in an interview Wednesday. “It’s actually a very poor reflection on him that he chooses to speak about me that way.”
Mr. Trump has labeled Greene a “traitor” and a “lunatic,” after she split from Republican leaders to demand the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and pointed out that her party lacked a plan to address the expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. She has also criticized the effects Mr. Trump’s tariffs and mass deportation efforts are having on U.S. businesses.
Last month, the president pulled his support from Greene and said he may back a primary challenge against his one-time ally. A week later, Greene announced she would resign from Congress, citing her falling-out with the president.
The president has continued to lash out at Greene since then. On Monday, after Greene spoke to “60 Minutes,” Mr. Trump called her a “dumb person” and saying she “sort of reminds me of a Rotten Apple.”
Greene told CBS News on Wednesday that the president’s name-calling could alienate women voters.
“He always continues to speak about women like this, and that’s something that women all over the country pay attention to,” she said. “I think the Republican Party needs to take a hard look at it, because the Republican Party has a very difficult time with women voting for them.”
“It’s unfortunate that President Trump thinks loyalty is a one-way street. It’s really not,” she added. “I do feel sorry for him, because I think he’s extremely unaware, and I don’t know how he can be unaware about this, but he’s not aware of how it makes him really look.”
Greene also questioned the president’s apparent dismissal of Americans’ concerns about the state of the economy. As lawmakers in both parties stress the need to address affordability, Mr. Trump has defended his economic policies and called Democrats’ focus on the issue a “hoax.” Asked earlier this week to give the economy a letter grade, he responded: “A+++++.”
“The president needs to be aware that he’s a billionaire president of the United States,” she said. “You can’t gaslight people and tell them that their bills are affordable, and you can’t tell them that the economy is in A+++. You just can’t do that, and I think it’s insulting to people’s intelligence.”
“I do believe at this time that Republicans will lose the midterms”
Asked if the issue of affordability could cost the GOP its majority next year, the Georgia lawmaker said she doesn’t believe the party is doing enough to embrace a message of economic populism.
“I do believe at this time that Republicans will lose the midterms, and I think that’s unfortunate,” Greene said. “I very much wanted to be part of a Republican majority in Congress that solved problems for the American people, that delivered what we promised to America.”
Greene said she did not give Speaker Mike Johnson a heads up before announcing her retirement. Her exit next month leaves the Louisiana Republican with a slimmer margin in the House.
“This was a personal decision between myself and my family, which I had their full support, so I didn’t think I owed him that,” she explained. “He just texted me and asked me to reconsider.”
Earlier this month, Johnson told CBS News he was “surprised” by Greene’s decision.
“It’s no secret she and I’ve had disagreements over the last couple years, but I like Marjorie, I always have. I respect her decision, and I wish her the best,” Johnson said.
Greene, who once threatened to oust the Speaker, said she agrees with other female colleagues, including Representatives Elise Stefanik and Nancy Mace, who recently criticized Johnson’s leadership.
“I think he has a broader problem with the entire conference as a whole,” Greene explained. “The Republicans have a problem. They’re going to have a really hard time trying to go back to their districts and ask for re-election and new Republican candidates running in other House seats are going to have a very hard time asking for votes when this Congress, this Republican majority here, has produced hardly anything to give back to the people.”
President Trump told reporters Wednesday he still has confidence in the Speaker to hold his conference together.
“I think Mike Johnson has been a fantastic speaker,” Mr. Trump said. “I’ve had a very hard job because, you know, we have a small majority, and we got the biggest bill in the history of our country approved, the great, big beautiful bill.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Greene says on release of Epstein files
Greene’s rift with the president deepened over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. She was one of the early signers of a bipartisan petition to compel the Justice Department to fully disclose information about the convicted sex offender. The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in the House and Senate overwhelmingly last month. It orders the DOJ to make the files public within 30 days, by December 19.
“I’ll believe it when I see it, and I really hope the Trump administration does the right thing,” she said. “I think, if they don’t release all of the information, and the women are the ones that will know, I think that will be a complete break of trust with MAGA.”
“In my heart, I feel completely freed of this whole situation, because if President Trump called me a traitor, over standing with these women who were raped, victimized, trafficked for so many years, and this is something the government completely covered up and protected rich, powerful elites, if that’s why President Trump called me a traitor, then I’m like, that’s fine, you know, I’m completely okay with it,” Greene added.
But she said death threats she and her family faced went too far, and ultimately factored into her decision to step down.
“It was the direct death threats and assassination threats on my son, and that crossed my line,” Greene said. “It should cross anyone’s line, no matter who we are, no matter what disagreements we have.”
