Former top Obama adviser David Axelrod found himself in what he called an “astonishing” position this week: in total agreement with former Republican firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“I agree with every word that Marjorie Taylor Greene said,” he admitted on CNN about her analysis of the GOP’s electoral missteps. “I’ve never said those words here.”
Axelrod isn’t alone. Greene has drawn praise and befuddlement the past few weeks from the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and “The Daily Show” correspondent Desi Lydic, and surprised hosts and guests during appearances on “The View” and “Real Time With Bill Maher” by bucking the GOP on a host of issues — from foreign affairs to healthcare, releasing the Epstein files to re-opening the government.
Michael Moynihan, host of “The Fifth Column” podcast, said on Maher’s show when discussing healthcare costs: “I didn’t suspect that I would come on and say, ‘I agree with Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene.’”
But he did.
What’s going on?
Greene’s metamorphosis from political bomb-thrower to polite talk-show guest is just the latest twist in a political environment where topsy-turvy is the new norm. Her change could be motivated by designs of one day running for president, part of a grudge with Trumpworld or a sincere shift — though plenty are skeptical.
“In my experience, people don’t change, but they may behave differently because they want something,” said “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin, adding: “I think she aspires to higher office. Perhaps it’s the Senate. Perhaps it’s even the presidency. I don’t know. But I don’t know that we saw a different Marjorie Taylor Greene. I thought that we saw just someone behaving differently.”
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Greene has emerged as the party’s foremost critic of Speaker Mike Johnson and a rare Republican breaking from Trump’s agenda. Bernie Sanders of all people is calling Greene one of the “good” Republicans, while Ted Cruz said she’s becoming “very liberal.”
Long considered one of the most stalwart backers of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, Greene has suggested in media appearances that she is still the same “America First” rep from Georgia who is focused on her constituents. “Everybody is like, ‘Marjorie Taylor Greene has changed,’” she said on “The View.” “I’m like, oh no, nothing has changed about me.”
But there’s clearly a tonal shift, as Greene—infamous for promoting QAnon conspiracies, hounding a Parkland survivor and heckling Joe Biden during his “State of the Union” address — has appeared uncharacteristically measured of late, seeking common ground and willing to critique her own party.
It’s hard not to be cynical, and simply accept this kinder, gentler Greene as authentic. That’s because Greene’s image makeover looks like a savvy way to split from a deeply unpopular Congress and reposition herself for a future statewide run in Georgia, where the political winds are shifting, or a presidential bid, which she’s reportedly discussed privately. Greene’s decision to make the media rounds, and potentially reach audiences beyond the base, at a minimum, signals that she’s looking to re-establish herself on the national stage.
Whether Greene’s views are genuine or not, she is tapping into Americans’ frustration with the rising cost of living at a moment in which Trump, and his party, seem particularly out of step. Still, she’s gone significantly harder on Johnson and those Washington lawmakers engaging in a “you-know-what measuring contest,” while suggesting Congress and White House advisers are primarily to blame when the president takes his eyes off the ball.
One colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, questioned Greene’s sincerity.
The New York rep suggested Greene is on a “revenge tour” because Trump didn’t want her to run for a Georgia Senate seat in 2026. “This is not a person backing up anything of what they’re saying with any sort of action, which gives the whole game away,” Ocasio-Cortz said on a livestream. “This is a person that is trying to twist the knife on people who frustrated her personal ambition.”
In a NewsNation interview, Greene said she chose not to run for Senate and accused Ocasio-Cortez of being “jealous” that she came to New York this week and “had a great conversation with the ladies on ‘The View.’”
A more conciliatory Greene was also on display Thursday on CNN, where she praised Nancy Pelosi for her “incredible career” and wished Republicans “could get things done for our party like Nancy Pelosi was able to deliver for her party.”
This is the same Majorie Taylor Greene who, in the wake of a brutal 2022 attack on Pelosi’s husband, Paul, showed little compassion for the 82-year-old victim. “If Paul Pelosi was a 2A supporting gun owner he could have shot the man that was trying to kill him,” she tweeted. “It’s dangerous Democrat policies that led to Paul Pelosi being attacked.”
While Greene insists she’s not changing, her Pelosi praise, for instance, left tech journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher stunned. “What is happening, Marge?” she wrote. “Either this is the most epic Trojan horse troll game of all time and she will unveil herself as an alien who wants to eat us or she got visited by three spirits overnight recently.”
In the same CNN interview in which Greene spoke favorably of Pelosi, Wolf Blitzer asked the question on everyone’s minds, “Are you completely, completely ruling out the possibility of running for president in 2028?”
“That was a rumor that got started, completely baseless,” Greene said. “I never said I was running for president in 2028. I said I wasn’t running for governor in this upcoming election. I said I wasn’t running for senate in this upcoming election. I haven’t said I’m running for president.”
But she didn’t rule it out.
