Is Marjorie Taylor Greene undergoing a political realignment?

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) once lockstep adherence to the Trump administration is beginning to shift — in no small part due to the White House’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation that’s become a major millstone around the administration’s neck. But does the growing daylight between Greene and this White House signal a genuine political realignment for the MAGA mainstay? Or is the controversial congresswoman simply showing that she’s learned how to play politics in Washington with the best of them?

‘More subtle than she first appeared’

The schism between Greene and President Donald Trump reached a crescendo last week, when Trump attacked “‘Wacky’ Marjorie” on Truth Social for her tendency to “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” and for having “gone Far Left, even doing The View, with their Low IQ Republican hating Anchors.” The president’s opprobrium, including his withdrawal of political support for Greene, comes as the congresswoman tests “whether Republicans can openly defy Trump and survive” by “betting that standing with Epstein victims is a powerful enough shield to withstand the wrath” of this White House, said Axios.

While the fight over releasing the Epstein documents is the most proximal episode to Greene’s distancing herself from Trump, the “turn against the president” has been unfolding “over the last several months,” said Rolling Stone. Greene has “publicly questioned his foreign policy decision,” critiqued his “support of Israel,” as well as “domestic political maneuvering” on health care. Greene has “asserted that she remained committed to the MAGA movement,” but Trump’s criticisms were a “stunning rebuke” of one of his “fiercest defenders,” said The Washington Post.

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In offering an apology for her role in “inflaming the country’s poisoned politics” during a CNN interview this weekend, Greene succeeded in “furthering her own intriguing political reinvention,” the network said. Greene’s “evolution” suggests a politician who is both “more subtle than she first appeared” and who is “increasingly adept at wielding her own power.”

‘Apostasies’ that do not negate a ‘lifetime of conspiracies’

Greene’s pivot may very well be an “honest evolution, which entails accountability,” or it might be mere “shallow opportunism, which offers none,” said The Atlantic. “Recent apostasies from her party” do not automatically negate Greene’s “lifetime of conspiracies.” Although she’s said she “still supports Trump,” Greene now wants to “stop the toxic rhetoric” that “if we’re being honest, has been a staple” of her career, said Poynter.

Surprising as Greene’s political pivots may seem, there is reason to see the moves as less about a newfound sense of independence and more about a broader dynamic taking shape within the GOP at large. Trump’s attacks on the congresswoman come during a “politically fraught moment” for GOP lawmakers “feeling squeamish after a crushing off-season election cycle,” Politico said.

The Trump-Greene feud is “highlighting the cracks within MAGA world” in ways that are “increasingly apparent through MAGA-aligned media brands and commentators,” CNN’s Brian Stelter said on Bluesky. What’s notable is “not the number of the cracks but the sheer *variety* of them.”

Even “presidents-turned-cult leaders become lame ducks eventually,” said Gabe Fleisher in his “Wake Up To Politics” newsletter. And though there is likely “some personal element” to Greene’s decision to split from Trump, “at least publicly, it’s over policy divides.”

Greene frequently falls on the less popular side of whatever issues she’s broken with Trump over, but she is nevertheless often “on the side quickly gaining popularity in the GOP.” Greene’s outspoken critiques may then be “just the latest hint,” said CNN, that Republicans are “beginning to assess” the president’s behavior and how it “might weigh on their fortunes when he no longer controls the GOP.”