Marjorie Taylor Greene Confronts Trump, Citing Threats and “Toxic Politics” in First CNN Interview Since Announcing Resignation

In her first live interview after announcing plans to resign from Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene delivered a stark and unusually personal critique of former President Donald J. Trump, directly linking his rhetoric to a series of threats made against her and her family. The exchange, broadcast on CNN, offered one of the clearest public ruptures yet between Mr. Trump and a once-loyal ally who had long served as one of his most vocal defenders.

Speaking with anchor Pamela Brown, Ms. Greene described what she called an “unhealthy” political environment driven by increasingly hostile language from national leaders. She said Mr. Trump’s recent attacks on her — including calling her “not America First,” “not MAGA,” and “a very dumb person” — had escalated into credible threats, including a pipe-bomb scare and direct death threats against her son.

“I feel very sorry for President Trump,” she said. “It has to be a hard place for someone constantly so hateful, putting out vitriol and lies to get his way. That’s what’s wrong in America today. And I think that’s poor leadership from a president.”

The remarks mark a striking departure for Ms. Greene, a Georgia Republican who rose to prominence largely through her loyalty to Mr. Trump and his movement. She has attended rallies, defended his false claims about the 2020 election, and maintained a nearly perfect voting alignment with his legislative positions — a fact she reiterated during the interview.

“I have a 98 percent voting record with President Trump,” she said. “I don’t see how that makes me a traitor.”

A Threat That “Shocked” Her

The most dramatic portion of the interview came when Ms. Greene said she texted Mr. Trump directly with evidence of the threats she and her family had received following his public criticism. The threats, she said, included a pipe-bomb warning sent to her home and her family’s construction business, and another message explicitly threatening her son.

According to Ms. Greene, Mr. Trump responded with comments that she described as “extremely unkind,” “unsympathetic,” and “accusatory.” She declined to repeat his words verbatim on air but said she was “literally shocked” by the tone. She also said that members of his senior staff — including chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief James Blair — did not respond to her messages at all.

“I would have expected at least some recognition,” she said. “A mother, a grandmother — someone saying, ‘This is unacceptable.’ But there was nothing.”

A Larger Fracture Within the Republican Party

Ms. Greene’s criticism highlights an increasingly visible tension within the Republican Party as lawmakers navigate their relationships with Mr. Trump, who remains the party’s dominant figure. Her comments reinforce a growing perception among some Republican officials that publicly opposing — or even questioning — the former president carries not only political consequences but personal risk.

“Other Republicans are afraid of exactly this,” Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California said in a follow-up interview on MSNBC. “People sometimes don’t believe it, but they fear for their lives as well as their political futures.”

Mr. Khanna, who has worked alongside Ms. Greene on legislation related to sex trafficking and other issues, said he believes her break with Mr. Trump reflects an authentic shift shaped by her interactions with assault and trafficking survivors.

“Anyone watching that CNN interview could see she was sincere,” he said. “She wasn’t calculating anything about her future. She was moved by the survivors.”

A Broader Debate Over Trump’s Influence

Political analysts note that the rift between Ms. Greene and Mr. Trump comes at a moment when the Republican Party is split between a traditional conservative establishment and a populist base that propelled Mr. Trump to the White House. For years, Ms. Greene has been one of the few lawmakers able to navigate both worlds — a dynamic that made her break with Mr. Trump particularly striking.

In recent months, she has positioned herself as a critic of what she calls the “political industrial complex,” arguing that the two-party system has become more focused on internal battles than on serving the public. Her critique extended to both parties, including the Biden administration and state attorneys general who have prosecuted Mr. Trump.

But she emphasized that the “toxic language” emanating from national leaders — including Mr. Trump — is a driving force in deepening the country’s polarization.

“It sets a bad example,” she said. “It continues the cycle.”

What Comes Next

Ms. Greene’s announcement that she will resign from the House has raised questions about her future political ambitions and the broader implications for Republican politics. Her departure removes one of the most well-known figures associated with the MAGA movement from Congress, even as she insists that she remains aligned with many of the policies she and Mr. Trump once championed together.

For now, the fallout from her interview is still unfolding. But her comments — a mixture of disappointment, concern, and an unexpectedly personal rebuke of the former president — suggest a widening divide in a movement long defined by its loyalty to him.

Whether her break signals a deeper shift inside the Republican Party remains unclear. But one point from the interview resonated far beyond the studio: if a lawmaker with a 98 percent alignment with Mr. Trump can become a target, Ms. Greene implied, then no one in his political orbit is immune.