What to Know
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) has undergone a striking metamorphosis over the past year, culminating in a dramatic split with President Donald Trump amid the Epstein files controversy.
But as Greene wins over former critics, comedian Jon Stewart remains skeptical of her about-face.
While Stewart praised Greene for standing alongside Epstein survivors and demanding the release of federal case files, he questioned the MAGA firebrand’s motivations.
“Good on her for doing that,” Stewart said Friday on “The Weekly Show” podcast. “But I’m not exactly like, Marjorie Taylor Greene, she’s so ballsy to stand up to Trump. She also sees where the wind is blowing on this.
“I think this whole, now I’m gonna go on ‘The View’ and pretend like I wasn’t who I was, it all feels very cynical to me.”
In the past few months, Greene has broken ranks with Republicans on the Epstein files, Affordable Care Act subsidies and support for Israel in its war with Hamas. Trump has called her a “traitor,” pulling his support for her in the 2026 midterm elections.
Her shift has led former Democratic rivals like Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark to consider teaming up on future legislation.
“If you can put Marjorie and myself as co-leads on anything, it automatically gets attention, and it also reveals to the American public that we can bridge these gaps if we just decided that we want to,” Crockett told CNN.
Before breaking with Trump, Greene was one of the president’s staunchest allies.
She supported Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen” by Democrats and later backed his calls to impeach President Joe Biden.
Greene also promoted debunked far-right QAnon conspiracy theories, including claims about Bill and Hillary Clinton, a Democratic child sex trafficking ring (Pizzagate) and “Jewish space lasers.”
“I would like to say humbly I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics,” Greene told CNN last week. “It’s very bad for our country, and it’s been something that I’ve thought about a lot.”
Sentiment is shifting, but Greene will still need to work to gain the trust of most Democrats given her past rhetoric.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she will reserve judgment until Greene backs up her words with concrete action, adding that any effort to repair their relationship must start with Greene.
“I personally believe that you never close the door to a person who wants to have changes in their life and in their heart, but they have to be genuine and they have to be authentic,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN. “It is incumbent upon her to repair the harm that she has done to people. It is not on the people she has harmed.”
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Nick Moyle
nj.com
(TNS)
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