Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Sunday she will stop using “toxic” rhetoric, marking what would be a dramatic shift in a political brand hallmarked by derogatory comments.
The commitment comes amid a rift with Donald Trump that has spilled into public view, with the president attacking the Georgia Republican personally. Greene, meanwhile, has pivoted away from the Republican Party more broadly recently, criticizing the GOP on a number of fronts, including the party’s handling of the government shutdown.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday, Greene said she worried Trump’s rhetoric toward her could lead to violence against her.
“The most hurtful thing (Trump) said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor, and that is so extremely wrong,” Greene said, “and those are the types of words used that can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger.”
When pressed by Bash on why she didn’t speak out against Trump using such rhetoric until it was directed at her, Greene conceded that it was “fair criticism.”
“I would like to say, humbly, I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics; it’s very bad for our country,” Greene said. “It’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated.”
Greene said she realized that she has participated in or supported heated rhetoric that has resulted in threats toward others, a point of reflection for her.
“I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions … and I’ve been working on this a lot lately, to put down the knives in politics,” Greene said. “I really want to just see people be kind to one another.”
A long history of flagrant remarks
Greene’s pivot represents a sharp departure from her typical conservative firebrand persona. She has previously spread offensive rhetoric about the Holocaust, lobbed personal insults during congressional proceedings and fought with fellow Republicans to the point her own caucus has pushed for repercussions for her acting out.
Greene repeatedly indicated support for Facebook posts calling for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019, before she was elected to Congress, a CNN KFile report revealed in 2021. After CNN reached out to Greene at the time, her personal Twitter account posted a statement that did not deny that she liked posts and replied to comments, but claimed that many people have run her Facebook page. The report resulted in her being removed from House committee assignments until 2023.
Also in 2021, Greene compared then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to continue to require House lawmakers to wear masks on the chamber floor to steps the Nazis took to control the Jewish population during the Holocaust. Greene issued a rare apology after that incident.
She was also ejected from the conservative House Freedom Caucus in 2023 in part because of fights she had with its members. She later brushed off her ouster, saying she didn’t “have time for the drama club.”
In one of her more notorious incidents, Greene got into a fight during a committee markup in 2024, during which she insulted Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s personal appearance and verbally sparred with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Greene refused to apologize when given the opportunity by the committee’s chair. The majority of Republicans on the panel eventually voted to allow Greene to continue speaking during the markup, though Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado joined Democrats in voting to have Greene silenced for the rest of the period.
That was not the only time Boebert and Greene had a public disagreement. During an argument on the House floor in 2023, Greene called Boebert “a little b*tch.”
Beyond her colleagues, Greene also snapped at a British journalist to “go back to your country” after the reporter asked about the Signal chat controversy involving Trump administration officials earlier this year
Greene said Sunday she’s done participating in politics in that way, adding that America needs to find “a new path forward,” and calling on people “to come together and end all the toxic, dangerous rhetoric and divide.”
“I’m leading the way with my own example, and I hope that President Trump can do the same,” she said.
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