Outgoing Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has made explosive claims about the culture of fear she says dominates her party's relationship with Donald Trump, alleging colleagues privately ridicule the former president only to offer fervent public support out of terror of being targeted by him.
From Mockery to 'Kissing His Ass'
In a preview of an interview set to air on CBS's 60 Minutes programme, the Georgia lawmaker stated she witnessed fellow Republicans in Congress make fun of Donald Trump's manner of speech and deride her for supporting him. This dynamic shifted dramatically, she claims, once Trump secured the party's 2024 White House nomination.
"I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him, to when he won the primary in 2024, they all started – excuse my language – kissing his ass," Greene said. She told the correspondent that these individuals then "decided to put on a Maga hat for the first time".
A Climate of Fear and Online Attacks
Greene, once a staunch Trump ally who is now leaving Congress in January after a very public split, pinpointed the reason for this sudden unity: fear of reprisal on the former president's social media platform. "I think they're terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them," she asserted, explaining why Republicans avoid criticising Trump publicly.
The fallout from her own break with Trump has been severe, according to Greene. After she opposed his handling of files related to the prosecution of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump labelled her a "traitor" online. Greene says this triggered a wave of threats against her and her son from Trump's supporters.
Death Threats and a Broken Alliance
In posts on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, Greene elaborated that she has reported hundreds of threats to the US Capitol Police. She stated that initially, threats came from the political left, but the source changed after her stance on the Epstein case.
"All of the death threats came from the 'left' until I stood with the Epstein Survivors, women who were raped as teenagers, abused, and trafficked by rich powerful men – and that's when President Trump turned on me," Greene wrote. "New death threats and harassments came from the 'right' or somewhere."
She claimed she sent assassination threats targeting her son to Trump, who responded with "harsh accusatory replies and zero sympathy". Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex-trafficking charges during Trump's first term.
Greene's revelations paint a picture of a Republican congressional caucus where genuine opinion is suppressed by dread of online vilification, and where loyalty to Trump is enforced through the potent weapon of his social media reach.
