Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says the public show of loyalty many Republicans display toward President Donald Trump hides a very different private reality inside Congress.
In a wide-ranging TV interview, Greene claimed that a number of her GOP colleagues used to make fun of Trump behind closed doors — mocking the way he talks and sneering at her for defending him — only to transform into devoted allies once he secured the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.(The Guardian)
According to Greene, the shift wasn’t about principle. It was about fear.
“They’re terrified to step out of line,” she said, describing lawmakers who worry that even mild criticism of Trump could trigger a blistering post on his social media platform or unleash a wave of harassment from his most hard-line supporters.
From Loyal Foot Soldier to Outspoken Critic
For years, Greene was one of Trump’s fiercest defenders in Congress, branding herself part of his populist project and voting with him the vast majority of the time.
But that alliance fractured in 2025 as the two clashed over foreign policy and, most explosively, over efforts to force the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Greene backed bipartisan legislation demanding full transparency, while Trump and his allies resisted, arguing that publishing the documents could harm people who appear in them.
Greene has said Trump was furious that she signed a discharge petition to move the Epstein files bill forward and that he viewed her stand as a personal betrayal.
“Fueled” Threats — Against Her and Her Son
The political rupture soon became personal.
Trump publicly turned on Greene, labeling her a “traitor” and taunting her online, even twisting her name into an insult. Greene says those attacks coincided with a surge of threats — not just from critics on the left, but from people who identified as Trump supporters.
In the interview, she described receiving a pipe bomb threat at her home and direct death threats aimed at her teenage son. The subject lines and language in some of the messages, she said, echoed Trump’s own insults.
Greene told the program that she personally flagged the threats to Trump and to Vice President JD Vance. Vance, she said, responded that his team would look into it. Trump’s reply, by contrast, was “extremely unkind,” she claimed, and in public he brushed off the idea that her life was in danger, suggesting that “nobody cares” about her.
She now openly accuses Trump of helping to “fuel” the hostile environment around her — and of making it more dangerous for her family.
A Culture of Silence Inside the GOP
Greene’s most explosive allegation isn’t about herself, but about the culture she says dominates the Republican conference: a mix of private mockery and public submission.
Behind the scenes, according to Greene, some Republican lawmakers roll their eyes at Trump, imitate his speech, and joke about his behavior. The same people, she says, put on red hats and praise him on television when they believe their political futures depend on his approval.
She argues that many of her colleagues have watched what happened to her — the online attacks, the talk of a primary challenge, the threats — and drawn a clear lesson: criticizing Trump in public simply isn’t worth the risk.
Stepping Away From Congress
Amid this very public feud, Greene has announced that she will resign from the House of Representatives, with her departure taking effect early next month.
She says the decision is partly about refusing to endure a brutal primary backed by Trump and his donors and partly about wanting to step out of what she now describes as a “toxic” political culture in Washington.
Once one of Trump’s most visible allies, Greene is now positioning herself as an “America First” conservative who has broken free of what she casts as a personality cult around the president. Whether voters — and her former colleagues — see her as a truth-telling insider or a disgruntled ex-ally remains to be tested outside the halls of Congress.
