BURSTGeorgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hit back at fellow Republicans over the backlash she’s faced for breaking with the party on high-profile issues ranging from its positions around the government shutdown to its opposition to efforts to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
“There’s a lot of weak Republican men and they’re more afraid of strong Republican women,” Greene told The Washington Post in an article published Tuesday. “So they always try to marginalize the strong Republican women that actually want to do something and actually want to achieve."
The Georgia representative has publicly rebuked the GOP party for failure to secure a plan surrounding the lapse in Affordable Care Act premium subsidies in recent days. Greene has also parted with party leadership by signing a bipartisan resolution to force the Justice Department to release files tied to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
Her outspoken nature has drawn criticism from her Republican colleagues and rare praise from Democrats. Greene said she’s doing what her constituents expect of her.
“My district knows I ran for Congress trashing Republicans,” Greene told the Post.
“They voted for me because they agreed with that. My district’s not surprised,” she added.
Greene's statements have earned praise from high-ranking Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
“It does seem to many of us that she’s had a surprisingly enlightened few weeks," Jeffries told MSNBC on Monday.
Some Republican lawmakers have accused her of abandoning President Trump, though she insists she's still a staunch, if free-minded, supporter.
“Whether it’s Gaza, whether it’s Epstein, or whether it’s now the ACA [Affordable Care Act] credits, she’s been 180 degrees opposite of Trump,” one House Republican told The Hill.
“In fact, she’s been more Biden than she has been Trump.”
Greene painted a contrast between Trump and her GOP colleagues in Congress in her interview with The Post.
“Whereas President Trump has a very strong, dominant style — he’s not weak at all — a lot of the men here in the House are weak," she said.
Johnson on Sunday said he and Greene had a cordial talk regarding ACA subsidies after he previously suggested she was not knowledgeable about GOP plans regarding the health care premiums.
During an interview with Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday, Johnson said he told Greene that “there are many Republicans in Congress that have been working around the clock on this.”
He also noted that Republicans have “hundreds” of ideas to lower costs, expand access and improve the quality of health care.