DALTON, Ga.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump says Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a traitor. But for Jackie Harling, who chairs the local Republican Party in Greene\u2019s northwestern corner of Georgia, she\u2019s still \u201cmama bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery thought that we had in our minds, she seemed to be very good at verbalizing,\u201d Harling said.<\/p>\n
Saying things that no one else would say may be Greene\u2019s most durable legacy as she steps down on Monday, resigning halfway through her third term in Congress. <\/p>\n
First, it was her embrace of conspiracy theories and incendiary rhetoric, turning her into a national symbol of a political culture without guardrails. Then it was her willingness to criticize Trump, a schism that made her position in Washington untenable.<\/p>\n
In interviews in Greene\u2019s district, constituents described her over and over as a \u201cfighter.\u201d For Republicans like Harling, that was enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a lot of satisfaction,\u201d Harling said. \u201cShe was our voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was less satisfying for an independent like Heath Patterson, who struggled to think of ways that Greene\u2019s fame and notoriety made a difference for her district during her time in the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know of anything that she did do here except, certainly, got her voice heard. But where did we, how did we benefit from that?\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
From MAGA warrior to exile<\/p>\n
Greene began clashing with Trump last year, criticizing his focus on foreign policy and his reluctance to release documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president eventually had enough, saying he would support a primary challenge against her. Greene announced a week later that she would resign.<\/p>\n
She has kept up the criticism since then, including over Trump\u2019s decision to strike Venezuela. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the same Washington playbook that we are so sick and tired of that doesn\u2019t serve the American people, but actually serves the big corporations, the banks and the oil executives,\u201d she told NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The split was surprising because, until that point, Greene\u2019s trajectory had mirrored Trump\u2019s rise to power. She didn\u2019t become politically involved until his presidential campaign in 2016 and first ran for Congress in 2020. Greene considered trying to represent Georgia\u2019s 6th Congressional District, which includes the Atlanta suburbs, before relocating to the 14th District, where the Republican incumbent was retiring. <\/p>\n
She remained loyal to Trump after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, promoting Trump\u2019s falsehoods about a stolen election. When Trump ran again in 2024, she toured the country with him and spoke at his rallies wearing a red \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hat. <\/p>\n
Her Georgia district is one of the most Republican-leaning in the state, although it wasn\u2019t always that way. The region once backed Democrats like Zell Miller, a onetime Georgia governor and U.S. senator.<\/p>\n
But residents have felt left behind by years of change, said Jan Pourquoi, a Belgian native who emigrated in 1987, became a U.S. citizen and later won local office in Whitfield County. <\/p>\n
His county\u2019s population has grown by roughly by 32% since 1990, which pales in comparison with statewide growth of 74%. As the U.S. becomes more urban, secular and diverse, Pourquoi said, residents believe they\u2019re \u201cculturally oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey see themselves as great Americans, proud Americans, Christian Americans, and that doesn\u2019t fit the American model anymore as they see it,\u201d said Pourquoi, who said he left the Republican Party because of Trump. Greene exemplified the political backlash, which he summarized as \u201cstick it to them \u2014 any possible way you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Georgia leaders, like those in many other states, have spent years drawing congressional districts to pack like-minded voters together. That means in red areas, whoever wins the Republican primary is virtually guaranteed to come out on top in the general election, incentivizing candidates like Greene with more hard-line views. <\/p>\n
The political landscape means former Republicans such as Pourquoi or independents like Patterson say they have no shot at helping a centrist win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m kind of square in the middle,\u201d said Patterson, adding that it sometimes feels like he\u2019s \u201cthe only one around here who\u2019s that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Republicans plan their path forward<\/p>\n
Whitfield County Republicans gathered at a restaurant last month for their annual Christmas party, where seasonal decor and a visit from Santa Claus were intermingled with the red, white and blue regalia and a smattering of MAGA paraphernalia. <\/p>\n
There was still deep affection for Greene and plenty of talk about the cultural issues she championed. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just the fact that she was unwavering in \u2018America First,\u2019\u201d said Gavin Swafford, who worked on Greene\u2019s initial campaign.<\/p>\n
Swafford called her \u201can accountability representative\u201d because of her clashes with Republican leaders. <\/p>\n
Lisa Adams, a party volunteer, called Greene \u201cour stand-up person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at her stance on transgenderism. That\u2019s a big one,\u201d she said. \u201cAbortion. That\u2019s a big one.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of Greene\u2019s inconsistencies \u2014 real or perceived \u2014 were a problem, they said.<\/p>\n
For example, Greene has praised the Korean-owned solar panel factories in the district even after voting against Biden-era policies intended to boost production. She broke with Republicans, Trump included, and sided with Democrats who wanted to extend premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance customers. <\/p>\n
None of the Republicans at the Christmas party expressed any interest in taking sides between Trump and Greene. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s inevitable when you have two firebrands that are both stubborn,\u201d Swafford said.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the district missed having a more traditional lawmaker, the kind who might cut bipartisan deals and bring as much federal money as possible back home, Swafford was unconcerned. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing that Marjorie contributed wasn\u2019t even in legislation,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Still, there was also a sense among some that Greene, for all her bare-knuckle politics, could have gone further. <\/p>\n
Star Black, a Republican who is running to replace Greene, was already planning a primary challenge before she announced her resignation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a great representative who was a fighter. Well, you know what? I want to take it one step further,\u201d Black said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only do you need a fighter,\u201d Black said, \u201cyou need someone who is going to listen. You need someone who is going to represent you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barrow and Megnien write for the Associated Press. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALTON, Ga.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump says Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a traitor. But for Jackie Harling, who chairs the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[63406,20462,4579,63403,10979,43899,63405,63404,63402,48,52,51,47,50,49,42472,7755,3020,1748,47962,8843],"class_list":["post-120212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-6th-congressional-district","tag-constituent","tag-district","tag-gavin-swafford","tag-georgia","tag-greene","tag-heath-patterson","tag-jackie-harling","tag-jan-pourquoi","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-marjorie-taylor-greene","tag-one","tag-president-trump","tag-republicans","tag-u-s-capitol","tag-way"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}