MTG warns GOP has drifted off the America First course, rejects 2028 presidential rumors

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is adamant that the GOP has lost its way.

She also categorically rejects speculation that her outspoken criticism signals a presidential bid is around the corner — dismissing it as annoying Inside-the-Beltway gossip.

She also rejected the storyline that she’s broken with the party. She says it’s the other way around.

“Everybody’s like, MTG breaks with Trump. MTG breaks with our party. And it’s like, not actually,” Ms. Greene told The Washington Times. “If you look at anything I said five years ago and you compare it today, it is almost 100% the same.”

The Georgia Republican is no stranger to stirring things up in Washington, usually going scorched earth on Democrats. But lately, she’s trained her fire on President Trump and Republicans.

She’s sounding the alarm that the GOP has drifted away from the America First voters who helped put them in charge of Washington. Those voters, she said, are increasingly frustrated and disillusioned by their deepening economic anxiety and the Republican Party’s failure to confront rising costs.

“American people voted for America First in November of 2024,” Ms. Greene said. “That’s certainly the policies that I fully believe in and represent and always have, and that’s what the American people voted for, and it has not been delivered,” she said.

“I think there’s a lot of disenfranchised voters right now,” she said.

For Ms. Greene, the off-year elections this week weren’t just a bad night — it was a wake-up call. 

She warned that if Republicans fail to reconnect with the America First crowd by addressing the increased costs of living and prioritizing domestic issues, they risk a bruising midterm election next year, in which their slim House majority will be on the line.

Republicans lost gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey this week, and California voters passed a redistricting measure that will help Democrats gain more congressional seats, countering Trump-inspired efforts in GOP-led states.

Ms. Green said some of the more ominous signs came in downticket races, including in her political backyard, where Democrats flipped two seats on Georgia’s Public Service Commission, romping to victory with over 60% of the vote.

It marked the first time since 2006 that Democrats captured a state-level office in a statewide election.

“People were not motivated to vote on Tuesday,” she said.“Republican voters didn’t turn out.”

Ms. Greene has long been one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal allies.

Frustrated with both parties, she was an early supporter of his 2017 candidacy, championed his 2020 stolen election claims, and remained loyal in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — even as other Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, signaled they were ready to turn the page.

“When the MAGA train left the station, I was on it the entire time, and then when everybody bailed and jumped off, I got out and I helped push it up the [expletive] mountain,” Ms. Greene said recently on “The Tucker Carlson Show.”

That’s why it’s striking to see Ms. Greene at odds with Mr. Trump and most of her GOP colleagues on Capitol Hill on several hot-button issues: the Jeffrey Epstein files, U.S. assistance to Israel, the $40 billion Argentina bailout, Obamacare subsidies and the government shutdown.

She has flatly disagreed with Mr. Trump’s claim that “we have no inflation” and “our groceries are down.” She has also taken a firm stand against Mr. Trump’s campaign — backed by wealthy pro-Israel donors — to unseat Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.

Mr. Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican, has drawn fire for challenging the administration on fiscal responsibility, foreign aid, and military interventionism. He’s also leading the charge to force the public release of documents related to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

She has taken her message anywhere and everywhere, including ABC’s “The View.”

Mr. Greene told The Times she has not spoken with Mr. Trump since the beginning of the shutdown, adding, “I’m not one of the Republicans that has to run out and say every time I talk with President Trump.”

She’s quick to shut down speculation that she’s eyeing a 2028 presidential run. Her boyfriend, Brian Glenn, the chief White House correspondent for the conservative Real America’s Voice, tried to put the rumors to rest this week, posting: “MTG has NO plans to run for President in 2028. I am your source.”

Asked about the current state of the MAGA movement, Ms. Greene said recent policy battles have exposed divisions.

She sees herself, as well as Mr. Massie and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, as part of the America First wing, while others like Mr. Graham and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fall into what she calls the “Israel First” camp.

“Let’s focus on our country,” Ms. Greene said. “All these foreign wars and causes don’t lower grocery prices, don’t help small businesses, don’t help seniors. They’re not helping my kids’ generation, who have no hope of owning a home or finding a good job.”

Ms. Greene also believes the MAGA faithful want more of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Make America Great Again agenda implemented.

Much of Ms. Greene’s recent criticism has been aimed at House Speaker Mike Johnson. She’s called on him to bring Congress back to Washington to end the shutdown, work on appropriation bills, tackle rising costs, and carve out an Obamacare fix.

“I am really tired of the pissing contest in Washington, D.C., between the men,” she said on “The View.”

Mr. Johnson recently responded: “I’m not unaccustomed to hearing criticism from Marjorie.”

“We have intense fellowship as we say in the Deep South,” Mr. Johnson said this week on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” podcast, “And she knows I’ve got an open door. She can come in and talk with me anytime, but she goes on these shows. She likes to get the big interviews, and that’s fine. Everybody has the right.”

Mr. Greene told The Times that Mr. Johnson knows “100%” where she stands after she made her views known on weekly House conference calls and in texts with Mr. Johnson.

“I’m putting as much pressure as possible on my party to do the job it promised its voters,” she said.