-
Marjorie Taylor Greene is too powerful a figure to overlook, wrote former Bush aide Peter Wehner in an op-ed for the Atlantic.
-
Wehner wrote that Greene gives “a voice” to a “growing sentiment” in the GOP.
-
Wehner stressed that Greene is now a close confidant of speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Like it or not, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now too powerful a political figure to be ignored, wrote former Bush aide Peter Wehner.
Wehner, who worked as a speechwriter for then-President George W. Bush in the early 2000s, argued in a February 22 op-ed for The Atlantic that Greene’s newfound connection with speaker Kevin McCarthy makes her much more important than before.
“The temptation of many people, eager to get past the American political freak show, will be to ignore her comments and dismiss her as an outcast, a fringe figure, deranged but isolated,” Wehner wrote. “The less that is said about her, the better. That’s unwise.’
Wehner added that in addition to becoming a “confidant” of McCarthy’s, Greene now has his ear for policy issues. Greene “gives voice to widespread and growing sentiment in the Republican Party,” Wehner wrote.
The Georgia congressman made a wild suggestion on President’s Day to separate red states from blue ones. Her suggestion drew harsh rebukes from within the GOP: Senator Mitt Romney called it “madness” and Utah Governor Spencer Cox labeled Greene’s idea “evil.”
Wehner wrote that while Greene’s secessionist idea is too extreme to be considered, she will receive only “gentle rebukes” from most GOPs.
“What the rest of us have learned during the Trump era is that a party led by cowardly men and women – some cynical, others true believers, almost all afraid to speak out – will eventually become the cross-border, unethical and moronic normalize. Wehner wrote.
“Greene and McCarthy — one crazy, the other cowardly — epitomize much of the modern GOP,” he added. “Any party that gives way to agitators and separatists is sick and dangerous.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, GOP power player
Greene is known for her anti-trans rhetoric, track record of spreading bizarre, anti-Semitic messages, and her well-documented beliefs in QAnon conspiracy theories. Despite this track record — or perhaps because of it — Greene’s star has risen in the GOP, and she hasn’t been afraid to add to her newfound clout.
As Wehner noted, McCarthy owes Greene a large debt. She broke with her House Freedom Caucus colleagues Reps. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, becoming one of McCarthy’s staunchest supporters during his lengthy slog to secure the speakership in January.
In return for her support, Greene was rewarded with seats on homeland security and oversight committees.
But Greene’s new power in the party has given her more room for resistance. She ignored Kevin McCarthy’s warning to GOP lawmakers for the State of the Union not to indulge in “childish games” during the event.
During Biden’s speech, Greene did the opposite of what McCarthy asked, standing up and calling the president a liar. Greene said after the speech that she was not afraid of being reprimanded by McCarthy for her behavior.
The New York Times also reported in January that Greene and McCarthy have a strong friendship and that he has said privately that he will “always take care of her.”
“I will never leave that woman,” McCarthy said in a private conversation, according to an unnamed source who spoke to The Times.
Representatives for Greene and McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider
