The Untold Truth Of Marjorie Taylor Greene
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has become a far-right icon after being elected to Congress in the 2020 election. Per The New York Times, she's known for pushing conspiracy theories, and the political rookie doesn't shy away from controversy, seemingly unbothered by concerns coming from the left.
"I refuse to back down to the vile left and will continue to demand answers about January 6 [2021]," Greene told Newsweek after victimizing the rioters at the capitol insurrection, per MSNBC. Although she says, "Radical communist leftists are hell-bent on silencing free speech in America," it's clear to many that the capital insurrection was a senseless act of violence encouraged by the false narrative that the 2020 election was fraudulent. However, Greene seems to write her own rules when it comes to determining what's fact and fiction. But while her controversial beliefs are well documented, there's a lot more to MTG than the eye can see. Keep scrolling to learn more about Marjorie Taylor Greene.
How did Marjorie Taylor Greene make her way to congress?
Majorie Taylor Greene wasn't always a conservative figurehead. In fact, she didn't have much interest in politics until the 2016 Republican primaries when she heard then-candidate Donald Trump speak, she told Steve Bannon on his "War Room" podcast in March 2021, per the Independent. After relating to Trump as a businessperson, she threw herself into the far-right movement, claiming she was inspired by the "Republicans who failed us" following the Democrats' return to power in the House of Representatives.
She eased her way into the political sphere by getting involved in Republican Facebook groups that heavily rely on conspiracy theories, according to Mother Jones. Specifically, she became an official of the Family First Project, which describes itself as a "national umbrella organization connecting, uniting, and informing statewide grassroots groups and activists; working together and mobilizing to support President Trump ... [and] American roots and culture." However, the group has been known as a forum for hate speech that targets Democrats and their wellbeing.
After developing a following of right-wing supporters, she announced her run in April 2019, per Politico, and with the help of her own funding, MTG won her seat in the House and the support of Trump-loving conservatives.
She came for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Marjorie Taylor Greene first made national headlines when she went for Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in February 2019. With her Facebook following in tow, she filmed the halls of Congress as she marched to the representative's office to give her a piece of her mind, according to the now-deleted video, per The Seattle Times. After being met with a locked door, she continued to taunt Ocasio-Cortez through her mail slot. "You need to stop being a baby and stop locking your door and come out and face the American citizens that you serve," Greene said at the time. "If you want to be a big girl you need to get rid of your diaper and come out and be able to talk to the American citizens instead of just having to use a flap, a little flap, it's kind of like crazy. Sad."
Although her behavior was condemned by the left, she defended her actions, stating she simply was "walking around and talking to lawmakers." With her "take what you want" attitude, she rose in favor of extreme right-wing supporters.
Marjorie Taylor Greene won big in her district
After generating a sizable cult following, it's no surprise Marjorie Taylor Greene scored a seat in the House. With support from top Republicans like Donald Trump, who even called her a "future Republican star," per CNN, she won the nomination in August 2020 before securing her place in Congress in the November 2020 election. She earned 57% of the vote in the 14th congressional district race, where she beat neurosurgeon John Cowan, according to the Independent. As a heavily conservative district that has not elected a Democrat since its birth in 2013, the odds were definitely in her favor. In fact, MTG filled in for Republican Representative Tom Graves, who won the seat with over 76% of the vote in 2018. After not seeking reelection, Graves' absence helped jumpstart Greene's victory in the polls.
But while Greene may have had a statistical advantage, she made sure to stick it to her haters in her victory speech. "So the Republican establishment was against me. The DC swamp has been against me. And the lying fake news media hates my guts" she said at the time. But despite her growing list of foes, she declared that she wears her slew of enemies as "a badge of honor."
Fitness was her life before politics
Before Marjorie Taylor Greene's life in politics, she kept busy as a businesswoman. In addition to co-owning a construction business started by her father, per The New Yorker, she owned a CrossFit gym in Georgia and seemed to dedicate her life to fitness. Although she ended up closing her gym shortly after its birth, according to the Independent, she still became a part-time personal trainer in the specialty and she continues to prioritize her workouts today.
Following her rise to congress, she was criticized for posting a video of one of her workouts to social media in April 2021, with the caption, "This is my Covid protection," implying that healthy living and not vaccines were the key to stopping the spread of COVID-19. Known for slamming the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, she then proposed a bill to cut his salary and lashed out against vaccine mandates despite their effectiveness.
She has her husband's full support
Despite Marjorie Taylor Greene's abrupt transition into politics, her longtime husband, Perry Greene, is happy to back his wife. The couple, who share three children together, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in August 2020, and Greene had no problem showing her gratitude for her man on their special day. "Perry, thank you for being my best friend and biggest supporter always! I love you!!" she wrote in a now-deleted post, per The Sun.
While MTG may have had a renaissance in her career, her husband has worked as the president of Taylor Construction, a building contractor business founded by his wife's father, since 1997. Although he is new to the political arena with MTG, he doesn't seem to have the same liking for attention.
Although he's now dark on social media, he was often spotted sharing her posts in the early days of her political career. But while the public eye might not be for him, he still supports Greene behind the scenes and was even her campaign treasurer, according to Newsweek. In fact, the Federal Election Commission has summoned him to provide additional details about the $3.5 million in donations MTG's reelection campaign generated during the first two quarters of 2021, thrusting him into the forefront of his wife's controversy.
She was embroiled in a cheating scandal
Following Marjorie Taylor Greene's rise in the mainstream media, it was reported she had been unfaithful to her husband a decade prior after a slew of affairs, according to the Daily Mail. The representative was allegedly entwined with "polyamorous tantric sex guru" Craig Ivey and a gym manager named Justin Tway, while working at a CrossFit gym in 2012.
"I remember one particular pool party where she was lying draped over Craig's lap drinking a beer," Greene's former gym employer Jim Chambers told the outlet. "She was quite open about it. We all thought her marriage was falling apart." However, he implied the affairs may have been under her husband's nose, claiming to have seen the married couple happily together around the same time. "Things seemed totally normal between her and her husband — even if they were a little lukewarm," he added. Despite the allegations, her marriage didn't seem to skip a beat.
However, Greene denied the claims, calling the story, "ridiculous tabloid garbage," and an "attempt to smear my name." But an exposé by The New Yorker in October 2020 reported that a man, who chose to remain anonymous, provided text message proof of his affair with MTG. He learned Greene was sleeping with someone else as well at the time who was not her husband, "while the whole time being 'super Christian,'" her alleged lover claimed. "She's not the pro-family, pro-Christian, strong-business woman she touts herself to be," he added.
She stirred controversy in congress from the start
It didn't take long for Marjorie Taylor Greene to stir the pot in the halls of Congress. She came in hot donning a "Trump Won" mask to her very first day on the job in January 2021. "Just sworn in!!" she tweeted at the time with a video showing off her controversial mask and a red dress. "It's an honor to represent the people of Northwest Georgia! Time to get to work," she added.
In addition to spreading the false narrative of a fraudulent election with her choice of face mask, her statement may have also been an act of defiance. Days prior to being sworn in, Greene was reportedly involved in a confrontation with Capitol staff for refusing to wear a face-covering upon entering the building, according to Fox News.
Following the incident, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a memo to members of Congress asking them to mask up and to adhere to social distancing guidelines, according to The Hill. However, Greene seemed to take Pelosi's suggestion as fighting words, especially after Pelosi allowed representative Gwen Moore to vote on the floor after testing positive for COVID-19 following permission from a doctor to do so. "@SpeakerPelosi changed the COVID rules because she is desperate to cling to the gavel," Greene tweeted at the time. "No one can attack me about masks, when Pelosi is sending Democrats to the floor with positive COVID tests to vote for her for Speaker."
Democrats tried to give Marjorie Taylor Greene the boot
Despite earning her seat in Congress fair and square, Democrats took issue with Marjorie Taylor Greene over the various troubling comments and affiliations she's had in the past — prompting a vote to expel her from her committee assignments, per The Hill. She apologized for her behavior and some of the falsehoods she spread at a February 2021 House GOP conference meeting ahead of the vote, stating, "These were words of the past. These things do not represent me" (via BBC). However, Democrats weren't buying Greene's apology. "I have never encountered a situation like the one before us now, where a member has made such vile and hurtful statements, engaged in the harassment of colleagues and expressed support for political violence," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said at the time. Nancy Pelosi even admitted she was "profoundly concerned" about Greene's place in Congress, calling her an "extreme conspiracy theorist."
Despite Greene's plea, the House of Representatives voted to remove Greene from two of her committee obligations, including the education and budget committees. This prevents Greene from representing her district in those sectors, which she said was an attempt by Democrats to "[strip] my district of their voice" during a news conference at the time.
She already has a lot of funding for her reelection campaign
Although some of Marjorie Taylor Greene's colleagues would probably like to see her gone, it looks like she is here to stay thanks to her reelection campaign funding. Just three months into the Georgia representative's rookie year, Greene was proud to announce her team had already raised a whopping $3.2 million in donations, per CNN. "I am humbled, overjoyed, and so excited to announce what happened over the past few months as I have been the most attacked freshman member of Congress in history," Greene said in a statement. "I stood my ground and never wavered in my belief in America First policies and putting People Over Politicians! And I will NEVER back down! As a matter of fact, I'm just getting started."
However, the Federal Election Commission ordered Greene's team to submit more information about their contributions, per Newsweek, but Greene says the large figure, which she claims came from more than 100,000 individual donations (via CNN), is the result of her huge following. "I am one of the people and the people are with me, and I will always be with them," she said in response. "WE are just getting started! In the words of my favorite President Trump, 'the best is yet to come.' Thank you to all!"
She's continued to defend the Capitol rioters
Despite causing an uproar in Congress for the comments she made ahead of joining the House of Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene didn't tone down her commentary once it was time to get to work. Sticking to her brand as the voice for the unfavorable opinion, she sympathized with the rioters at the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection and victimized them after their participation. "The people that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 are being abused," she said at a news conference in May 2021, per MSNBC, adding that they are being held "in solitary confinement."
Plus, Greene objected to the creation of a bipartisan commission designated to investigate the attack, and although an investigation is now underway as of this writing, Greene is still doing what she can to stop it. She even threatened telecommunication companies if they hand over Republicans' phone records to the committee, telling Fox News host Tucker Carlson, "If these telecommunications companies, if they go along with this, they will be shut down. And that's a promise," per the Independent. In the words of former president Donald Trump, MTG called the investigation and request a "witch hunt."
But social media is trying to stop her from spreading misinformation
Although Marjorie Taylor Greene may be sticking to her guns when it comes to her stance on the issues, whether their proven fact or fiction, it looks like social media is no longer giving her a platform to share her controversial remarks. The Georgia representative has been suspended from Twitter more than once for sharing misinformation pertaining to COVID-19 and the vaccines aimed to stop the spread of the virus, per CNN. The platform called out two of her tweets for being "misleading" in July 2021, and in accordance with their policy against those who repeatedly share false claims, her account was suspended for 12 hours.
Her suspension comes after US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a 22-page advisory cautioning the dangers of spreading false rhetoric. "Health misinformation is a serious threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, harm people's health, and undermine public health efforts," he wrote. "Limiting the spread of health misinformation is a moral and civic imperative that will require a whole-of-society effort."
Prior to her July suspension, she was hit with another temporary expulsion for fueling conspiracy theories during the Georgia Senate election debacle in January. Her controversial tweets were deleted by the platform and were replaced by the following message: "This claim about election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can't be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence."
She's tight with similarly scandalous Matt Gaetz
Marjorie Taylor Greene had found her partner-in-crime with fellow republican representative Matt Gaetz. Like the Georgia native, Gaetz has been criticized for his remarks and his great support for former president Donald Trump. Gaetz and Greene have stood together as they campaign for their joint "Put America First" fundraiser, all while Gaetz is under investigation for federal sex crimes, per The New York Times. But despite efforts to rally their troops as one, they've actually lost $342,000 and have only received $59,345.54 in contributions, per The Daily Beast.
However, their "cash fire," isn't enough to break them up. In fact, MTG's had Gaetz back since his alleged sex trafficking scandal broke. "I have proudly defended @mattgaetz from the beginning because I know he's done nothing wrong and I recognized this playbook right from the start," she tweeted. Thereafter, Greene boasted about her partnership with Gaetz, saying they've "teamed up" against "any Trump-hating Republican," on the Real America's Voice network, per Newsweek. Greene's rep told the outlet the reports of her comments were not credible, however, Gaetz has echoed similar sentiments about another Trump presidency. "The Marjorie-and-Matt tour—other than the Trump rallies—is the big thing going on at our party," he told Vanity Fair. "We're kind of the advance team for Trump ... And [Trump] likes the idea of having the energetic characters in our party out there in the early-primary states keeping the band in tune, if you will."
Donald Trump is a fan
With Marjorie Taylor Greene's fierce devotion to the republican party and former President Donald Trump, it's no surprise she's garnered great support from the real estate mogul. Just after her primary victory in August 2020, Trump showed his support for the now-representative, writing, "Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent," via Twitter, per Politico. "Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up — a real WINNER!" he added.
He's continued to praise Greene since her transition into congress, even calling her one of his "favorite people" during an August 2021 "Save America" rally in Alabama. "She's so smart ... she is an incredible woman," he said according to a Twitter video of the rally via Newsmax. "She's a brilliant woman — doesn't get credit for it, but we all know about that stuff," he added, referencing his "fake news" rhetoric. "She's great. She's a warrior."
She says what's on her mind
Despite the many controversial statements Marjorie Taylor Greene has uttered, there's no denying that she says doesn't hold back when it comes to speaking her own truth. According to AP News, MTG has toted conspiracy theories concerning the Las Vegas mass shooting, 9/11, and Hillary Clinton – not to mention the various anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic comments she's made in the past, according to CNN.
But since Greene's entrance to congress, she's raised eyebrows for comparing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's COVID-19 mask mandate on the chamber floor to Nazi Germany and their control and oppression of the Jewish people. "You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany," she said on a conservative podcast in May 2021 (via CNN). "And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about."
However, Greene walked back her remarks and apologized for her "offensive" comparison after visiting US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. "There are words that I have said, remarks that I've made that I know are offensive, and for that I'd like to apologize," she said at a press conference, adding, "I made a mistake."