In February 2021, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia received what would generally be considered a fatal blow in Washington politics: She lost her seats on House committees, where Congress does much of its work. , because she had supported the QAnon conspiracy theory and spread other dangerous misinformation on social media.
But instead of being relegated to political oblivion, Greene has grown in influence over the past two years, as my colleague Robert Draper explained in a profile of her in The New York Times Magazine and published in line this morning.
Last month, Greene sat directly behind House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as he unveiled his platform for the midterm elections. Republican candidates often ask Greene to campaign for them. She became a major fundraiser within the party. And Greene told Robert she had spoken with Donald Trump about being his running mate if he ran for president in 2024.
“It’s not at all what I expected when I started reporting on Greene,” Robert told me.
So how has Greene, who was a political pariah a few years ago, placed herself at the center of Republican politics today?
The Torchbearer of Trumpism
Greene’s rise didn’t happen because she apologized and let go of her extreme views. Instead, her core supporters rallied around her because they agreed with at least some of her beliefs and liked her to hold her own — a narrative that echoes Trump’s rise.
Greene herself is a big supporter of Trump and his policies and falsely claims the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him. “She’s a perfect reminder that Trumpism won’t go away even if it does,” Robert said.
A telling moment: Early last year, House Republicans gathered to discuss whether to remove Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from a leadership position after she voted to impeach Trump during the January 6 attack. (They eventually did.) At that meeting, Greene justified her support for QAnon and other conspiracy theories — and about a third of the conference stood and applauded her.
“The headline tonight is we tried to evict Liz Cheney, and we gave Marjorie Taylor Greene a standing ovation,” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace warned at the time.
Since then, McCarthy, who would likely be president if Republicans regain control of the House midterm, has reportedly offered Greene prized committee assignments if she backs her bid for the job — giving her back what she lost, and Moreover.
Not all Republicans are on board. Some fear Greene’s style will hurt them in next month’s election. And she often criticizes her party members; last month, she said “21 Republican senators just voted with the woke climate agenda” after voting for an international climate deal.
“She’s much more willing to offend than to accommodate,” Robert said. This could ultimately limit its rise.
Read Robert’s full story, which includes interviews with Greene, who is usually averse to the mainstream media.
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The return of Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of “The Road” and “No Country for Old Men,” publishes his first novel since 2006 — and his second: “The Passenger,” out Oct. 25, and “Stella Maris,” will be released on December 6.
The books have interwoven narratives. They focus on a tortured young mathematical prodigy and her brother. It’s a stylistic and thematic departure from McCarthy’s previous gory moral tales set in the American Southwest, writes Alexandra Alter of The Times.
“But the novels are also recognizably McCarthy,” she adds, “laced with transcendent language and a deep understanding of human nature.”
For more: Read an excerpt from “The Passenger”.