Marjorie Taylor Greene says Trump’s remarks hurtful but hopes they can make up

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday called Donald Trump’s remarks labeling her a traitor and a lunatic “hurtful” but said she hopes she and the US president can “make up”, despite stark differences over policy and the release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein.

Greene, a longtime ally and fierce defender of Trump and the Make America Great Again (Maga) base, pushed back against his name-calling, in her first interview since Trump withdrew his support for her on Friday.

She told CNN’s State of the Union show: “His remarks, of course, have been hurtful … the most hurtful thing he said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor and that is so extremely wrong.”

Greene said on Saturday she had been contacted by private security firms “with warnings for my safety” since Trump said he was withdrawing his endorsement of her as a Republican member of Congress, following several days of remarks and posts criticizing her.

Greene had said in an X post that “a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”, without referring to Trump by name, adding it was “the man I supported and helped get elected”.

She did not go into further detail on Sunday morning about the nature and sources of such threats.

But she added in her TV interview about Trump’s attacks, especially the label traitor, that: “Those are the types of words used that can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger.”

“It has all come down to the ‘Epstein files’ and that is shocking and, you know, I stand with these women, I stand with rape victims … and survivors of trafficking … I believe the country deserves transparency in these files,” she said.

Greene plans to join a vote in the House of Representatives later this week to demand the release of all files held by the US government on Epstein, the late financier and sex offender who killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on sex offenses in New York in 2019.

Even though the Senate is expected to kill any such bill, the upcoming vote and last week’s release of thousands of documents with revelations about Epstein’s ties to Trump, Steve Bannon and other powerful figures, is putting huge pressure on the administration, including from victims of Epstein.

Greene’s falling out with Trump was months in the making but matters escalated dramatically in recent weeks.

Greene also called on Sunday for an end to “toxic infighting” in politics. CNN anchor Dana Bash challenged Greene on her track record of past violent rhetoric towards Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and posts such as an image of herself posing with a gun alongside pictures of the “Squad” group of congressional left-wingers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics … put down the knives, be kind to one another … I never wanted to cause any harm,” Greene said.

Greene has also diverged from Trump’s focus on foreign policy issues, arguing he should be concentrating on bringing down inflation in the US and take an even harder line on immigration.

“I would like to see Air Force One parked and staying at home,” she said.

But she ended the interview with CNN, when asked if there could be reconciliation with Trump, by saying: “Well, I certainly hope that we can make up. I can only speak for myself, I’m a Christian and one of the most important parts of our faith is forgiveness, and that’s something I’m committed to.”