"Politics are toxic and are ripping our country apart," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, "and I think it's good when Americans talk to each other, no matter how they vote." The Congresswoman took some time to chat with Local 3 News on Wednesday via Zoom from Washington as the House was in the midst of preliminary measures leading to a vote on the National Defense Authorization Act.
For the last five years, the woman known as MTG has been the Republican firebrand from Northwest Georgia. But, as she approaches her self-imposed term limit, mid-term, she appears to have softened. "I'm very proud of the work myself and my office, the district office, and the office in Washington, DC, has done supporting the district's needs," she said. "And I'm really hopeful that's something that the next Representative continues."
Greene says her split with President Donald Trump on a few high-profile issues and his subsequent attacks on her just raised the temperature, too high. "Receiving pipe bomb threats on my home, my construction companies, our business; just repeated, like, pizza doxing deliveries," she explained. "But, also, direct assassination threats on my own son, coming from the president's words. Especially the president that I've been so loyal to, and it helped so much."
The threats, she says, have increased over the past couple of months. But, for the outgoing 14th District Representative, they are nothing new. "Since I've been in office, my office has turned over 773 death threats to the Capitol Police," she said. "And those are ones that met the threshold. The threshold has to be a direct death threat, not a wish like someone saying, 'I wish she would die,' or something like that. It has to be a direct 'I'm going to kill you.' Some version of that. So, that's significantly a very high number of death threats, and, unfortunately, that shouldn't be part of public service. But, that's where it is, today."
Her public feuds with fellow lawmakers, not so long ago, made headlines. She acknowledges she helped create the problem. "I'm very simply just taking responsibility for my own action and not engaging," said Rep. Greene.
That new approach has set her on a surprising interview tour. "I very much enjoyed going on The View, and I carried my conservative America First policies with me on The View," Greene added. She says she is trying to bridge the traditional gap between Republicans and women. "We had very pleasant conversations, and I'm very thankful to have had that with women that don't always see eye to eye with me.
So, why is she bowing out midway through a two year term for which she was elected a year ago, last month? She says, it is not about the congressional pension. "We have no choice about our pension. They take over 4% out of a paycheck and put it into the pension whether we want to or not," said Rep. Greene. "The pension that I will receive, I think I don't even get it until I'm 62 years old, and I think it's like maybe $8,000 a year.
Greene says she was disenchanted by the House Speaker's move to send Congress home during the government shutdown. "We should've been in Washington passing our appropriation bills. We should've been in Washington, coming up with a healthcare solution. That is really going to strike many Americans after the first of the year," Greene said. "I think if the speaker vote were held today, Mike Johnson would not be Speaker of the House."
But, she says, President Trump sealed the deal when he called her a traitor for demanding the Jeffrey Epstein files be released. "I thought, 'my goodness, how awful of a thing for the president to want to primary me and put my district through that.' It's completely unfair."
MTG is not making any endorsements in the coming special election to fill the seat she leaves behind. And as for her future, she is not dropping any hints. Yet. "I'm really looking forward to enjoying my family's safety, my own safety, catching up with them, and many friends I haven't seen for a very long time," she said. "I don't have any current plans right now, but hopefully after a good rest, I'll figure it out."
Rep. Greene will return to civilian life on January 5th. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp must call for a special election within ten days of her resignation. That has not yet happened, but March 17 is listed as a potential special election date on the Georgia Secretary of State website with a runoff, if needed, set for April 14.