The far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is ungovernable and should be known as “Moscow Marjorie”, said a former Republican colleague in the US House, accusing Greene of “getting her talking points from the Kremlin” when opposing new federal aid for Ukraine.
“My experience with Marjorie is people have talked to her about not filing articles of impeachment on President Biden before he was sworn into office, not filing articles of impeachment that were groundless based on other individuals in the Biden administration,” Ken Buck, a Colorado rightwinger who left Congress last month, told CNN.
“She was never moved by that. She was always focused on her social media account. And ‘Moscow Marjorie’ is focused now on this Ukraine issue and getting her talking points from the Kremlin and making sure she is popular and she is getting a lot of coverage.”
Congress returned Monday after a spring recess. Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, must govern with a tiny majority and a restive right. Just before the recess, Greene filed a motion to vacate, a means to remove Johnson from his role.
Greene filed the motion (though did not force a vote) after Johnson relied on Democrats to pass a $1.2tn spending bill and avoid a government shutdown.
Another key issue facing Johnson is how to pass new aid for Ukraine, which has been fighting off Russia’s February 2022 military invasion for more than two years.
Subject to Democratic pressure, Johnson has indicated he will do so – but Greene is among far-right Republicans opposed to new aid, in line with Donald Trump, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Last week, Greene told CNN: “I’m not saying I have a red line or a trigger … but I’m going to tell you right now: funding Ukraine is probably one of the most egregious things that [Johnson] can do.”
Greene also said that on Ukraine, Johnson has “made a complete departure of who he is, and what he stands for, and to the point where people are literally asking, ‘Is he blackmailed? What is wrong with him?’ Because he’s completely disconnected with what we want to do.”
Asked by the rightwing anchor Tucker Carlson if she really thought Johnson was being blackmailed, Greene said: “I have no idea.”
Buck was one of eight Republicans who voted to eject the previous speaker, Kevin McCarthy, last October.
But Buck quit Congress in protest of his party’s domination by Trump supporters, saying: “It is impossible for the Republican party to confront our problems and offer a course correction for the future while being obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”
Speaking to CNN, Buck dismissed McCarthy’s contention that Greene is “a very serious legislator that deals with policy”, saying: “So many of the statements that Marjorie has made over the years are completely irresponsible.
“The idea that somehow the speaker [Johnson] is corrupt because he believes that we should be supporting an ally that has been invaded by a war criminal, [Russian leader] Vladimir Putin, and the idea that somehow anybody who is in agreement with Ukraine and our Nato allies is corrupt, it’s just another distraction that she uses to take away from the core arguments that are so important.”
Other arguments floated by Greene recently included claiming an earthquake that hit north-eastern states last week and an eclipse of the sun on Monday were “strong signs” from God that Americans should “repent”.
“Yes,” Greene said, “eclipses are predictable and earthquakes happen and we know when comets are passing by, however God created all of these things and uses them to be signs for those of us who believe.”
