Six Important Lessons From The Marjorie Taylor Greene Saga
On Trump, MAGA, and the Future of the Right
In the decade or so that Donald Trump has singularly dominated American politics, the rise and fall of Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the most interesting episodes we’ve seen. There’s a lot to learn from what has happened with MTG in the last year or so. Here’s a grab-bag of six takeaways I’ve been thinking about in the last few weeks, that have particularly crystallized in the 48 hours since her shocking resignation.
Trump is not a lame duck yet
I started to get skeptical of proclamations that Trump is a “lame duck” when I got 3 different newsletters in one day last week declaring it. Typically when so much of the commentariat coalesces around a take in such rapid fashion, there’s cause for some skepticism. Yes, Trump suffered a blow in the off-year elections a couple of weeks ago. Yes, his approval numbers aren’t where Republicans would like going into a midterm year. Yes, the ongoing Tucker-Fuentes-Heritage-Cruz-Shapiro-Levin podcast brouhaha capturing everyone’s attention is very clearly a battle about what comes after Trump. But Trump’s ostracizing of MTG resulting in her leaving Congress is evidence that he’s still very much the king of the right.
The GOP isn’t ready for hard conversations
Whether you agree with her takes or not, MTG was one of the few elected Republicans trying to steer the conversation in the party toward the fundamental issues that are going to determine how it fares post-Trump. While other reps have been trying to rename airports after Trump or fight tooth and nail to increase the SALT cap, MTG was talking about the party’s complete lack of a healthcare message, cost of living, and realities of immigration enforcement that go beyond shouting “deport them all!” over and over. That she became a pariah in part due to this is just more proof that the “adults in the room” for the GOP have thought very little about grappling with the real issues.
2028 is going to be trickier than people think
I’ve been telling people this privately for a little while, but after this I feel confident enough in this take to bring it public (for State of the Day paid subscribers, at least):