Will Marjorie Taylor Greene turn the Maga movement against Trump? | Arwa Mahdawi

There are 535 members of Congress; only a dozen or so are household names. If you want to achieve that sort of brand name recognition, there are a few tried-and-tested ways to do so. You can spend years working your way up the ranks until you’re a power-broker like Nancy Pelosi. You can burst on to the scene and dramatically unseat an incumbent like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did. Or you can go the Marjorie Taylor Greene route and achieve notoriety by being utterly unhinged.

Since becoming a congresswoman for Georgia in 2021, Greene has kept herself in the news by spouting conspiracy theories, fighting with colleagues, and being one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders. In recent months, however, something strange has been happening. Greene has continued to generate headlines, but largely because she has turned on her party and is part of a growing Maga civil war. Greene was the first Republican lawmaker, for example, to say that there is a genocide in Gaza and has been one of the loudest voices demanding that the Epstein files be released. She has also criticised the Maga movement for not focusing on affordability or putting America first. Now, things have escalated to the point where Greene is making Trump see red; the pair are in a full-blown feud.

On Friday the president, who stood by Greene when she voiced conspiracy theories about school shootings and claimed that wildfires were started by space lasers, announced on Truth Social that he was finally withdrawing his endorsement of the congresswoman. “All I see ‘Wacky’ Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” he complained. Adding: “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.”

Greene, meanwhile, has said that Trump’s comments are “hurtful” but she still supports his administration and hopes they “make up”. She has also said she believes that his comments have fuelled threats against her safety. When asked on Sunday about these threats, Trump said: “I don’t think her life is in danger … I don’t think anybody cares about her.”

But that last bit isn’t quite true. If Greene learned anything from her apprenticeship with Trump, it’s how to generate media coverage. The congresswoman’s face is everywhere. And while she may no longer be buddies with the president, she is building bridges with former foes. On Sunday, for example, she appeared on CNN’s State of the Union and apologised for her role in “toxic politics”. And earlier this month, she went on the high-profile talkshow The View and criticised her party for not having a health care plan. “You are a very different person than I thought you were,” the presenter, Sunny Hostin, said.

So is Greene a different person? I’d love it if that truly were the case; it would be heartening to believe that some of the most toxic people in US politics might be capable of introspection and change. Alas, I don’t think this is some sort of road to Damascus moment. Rather, as Ocasio-Cortez has posited, this is more likely a case of sour grapes. AOC’s theory is that the Trump administration shut down Greene’s ambitions to run for Senate and she “has been on a revenge tour ever since”. Greene said at the time that she didn’t believe she could make a difference as a senator and wanted to continue to serve her congressional district.

She’s not alone in her revenge tour. The Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who along with the Democrat Ro Khanna is leading a bipartisan push to release the Epstein files, has also been trading barbs with the president. In a dramatic U-turn, Trump has now had to concede defeat on the files, declaring on Sunday that he’s happy to have a vote on the issue, as “we have nothing to hide”.

Trump has bounced back from scandals that would have buried most people. He is, let’s not forget, the first convicted criminal elected to the presidency. But it’s not just the Epstein files and traitorous deputies that he’s battling at the moment. According to a recent NBC News poll, 63% of registered voters, including 30% of Republicans, said that Trump has fallen short of their expectations on the economy. The president has been building ballrooms and blowing up boats instead of lowering the price of bread. While his base is still loyal, his approval ratings are eroding. Whatever Greene’s motives, her political instincts are sharp: there’s a real opportunity now to turn the Republican party against Trump. May the revenge tour roll on. Perhaps, with all this infighting, Greene will turn the electoral map blue.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist and the author of Strong Female Lead