Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene boasts of 'great' conversation with Trump amid calls for her ouster
(CNN)Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Saturday she had spoken with former President Donald Trump amid calls for her expulsion from Congress, saying she'll "never apologize" as she faces backlash over controversial actions and recently resurfaced comments.
In
a series of tweets, the Georgia Republican said she was "so grateful
for (Trump's) support and more importantly the people of this country
are absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people
and America First."
CNN has reached out to the former President for comment.
Greene's apparent conversation with Trump comes at a tumultuous time for the Republican Party,
as GOP leaders navigate party infighting over the former President's
role in inciting the deadly US Capitol riot that led to his second
impeachment and how his legacy fits with the party's future.
CNN's KFile reported
earlier this week that Greene -- a staunch supporter of Trump and the
policies he pushed while in office -- had repeatedly indicated support
for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 before
being elected to Congress. The congresswoman has a track record of
incendiary rhetoric, including past comments using Islamophobic and
anti-Semitic tropes, as well as ties to the baseless and thoroughly
debunked QAnon conspiracy theory.
Greene,
in one of her tweets Saturday, declared: "I won't back down. I'll never
apologize. And I'll always keep fighting for the people."
She
also referenced comments from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a news
conference this week in which the Democratic leader said that "the enemy
is within the House of Representatives," referring to the rhetoric and
behavior of some Republican members of Congress, including Greene.
"Yes
there is an enemy within," Greene wrote. "And that enemy is a poisonous
rot of socialist policies and America last sell outs who are pompous
hypocrites that believe they are untouchable elites."
The
congresswoman said she denounced the January 6 violent attack on the
Capitol and accused Democrats of trying to "lie and blame" Republicans
for the violence.
Greene
had helped promote Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential
election had been riddled with fraud and stolen from him, and on January
6, she joined some of her Republicans colleagues in objecting to
counting electoral votes.
House GOP leadership meeting canceled amid party turmoil
On
Saturday, CNN learned that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had
canceled a Tuesday House GOP leadership meeting in advance of a meeting
scheduled for Wednesday with all House Republicans amid the dust up over
Greene's controversial comments and views, McCarthy's renewed loyalty to Trump, and questions about GOP conference chair Liz Cheney and the nine other members of the Republican caucus who voted to impeach the former President.
McCarthy's
spokesperson told CNN the leadership meeting, slated for Tuesday
afternoon, was canceled because the Republican leader will be traveling
back from an energy event in Houston. However, he offered no additional
details for why it wasn't rescheduled.
A
source familiar told CNN they believed one of the reasons McCarthy
canceled the meeting is because he doesn't want to discuss Greene.
CNN previously reported that McCarthy plans to speak with the congresswoman next week about her past comments and posts.
The cancellation of the leadership meeting comes at a critical time for House Republicans.
This week, in the aftermath of the divisive fight to impeach Trump, McCarthy privately told his GOP colleagues to "cut that crap out" and stop attacking one another publicly -- and instead focus on Democrats.
McCarthy has previously said he supports Cheney, the number three Republican in leadership, but has also said he has "concerns." McCarthy has not publicly addressed Greene or Cheney since his visit with Trump
at Mar-a-Lago in Florida where the two discussed strategy for winning
the House majority in next year's midterms, according to Trump's "Save
America" Political Action Committee.
While many House Republicans have remained silent on
Greene's recent inflammatory comments and spreading of conspiracy
theories, she hasn't escaped criticism from all members of her party.
GOP
Sen. Mitt Romney, a frequent Trump critic, reacted to Greene's
announcement of her call with the former President in a tweet of his
own, saying that "lies of a feather flock together: Marjorie Taylor
Greene's nonsense and the 'big lie' of a stolen election." Greene
swiftly responded to the Utah Republican by accusing him of not caring
about people's concerns.
Democrats demand Greene's removal
Adding
to the growing tensions between the two parties in the aftermath of the
deadly riot on Capitol Hill, fellow freshman Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri
Democrat, announced
Friday she will be moving her office away from Greene's after a heated
exchange with the GOP congresswoman earlier this month over mask
wearing.
And at least 50 House Democrats have
called for Greene to be removed from Congress, with others demanding
she be censured or face punishment after a number of her inflammatory
comments came to light.
Democratic
Rep. Nikema Williams, another member of Georgia's congressional
delegation, told CNN's Fredricka Whitfield on Saturday that it's time
for Greene to be removed from Congress.
"We
saw a direct attack on the United States Capitol because of the
rhetoric and incitement of violence she continues to do," said Williams,
who's a co-sponsor of a bill to censure Greene.
Still,
expelling a member from Congress requires two-thirds of the chamber to
vote to remove that person. Republicans control just under half the
seats in the House, and GOP leadership has so far shown no steps toward
reprimanding Greene for her comments or previous posts.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
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