Marjorie Taylor Greene just turned the tables on Donald Trump
Sometimes unhinged, hate-mongering politicians appear to do something right. When that happens, a closer look is likely to reveal that the politician hasn’t suddenly become “a good guy.” A case in point is Marjorie Taylor Greene’s swift and successful effort to make the Trump campaign think twice before hiring a fellow lunatic.
Trump, apparently trying to use his “big brain” to devise new ways to outdo himself, told aides he wanted to figure out a position for Laura Loomer, whom the New York Times politely describes as “a far-right and anti-Muslim activist with a history of expressing bigoted views.” Trump was serious, having recently met with Loomer, who proudly attended his post-indictment rant at Mar-a-Lago.
It’s not surprising that many Trump aides were concerned about Loomer’s potential association with the campaign because hiring someone with a history of unabashed bigotry might look bad. It’s not necessarily that they found the fact Loomer said Islam is a “cancer” and tweeted “#proudislamophobe,” among other things, to be repulsive, but that such utterances could be a distraction that the campaign doesn’t need.
Similarly, when Greene publicly sounded the alarm against Loomer by cautioning Trump not to hire the “mentally unstable and a documented liar,” Greene didn’t suddenly grow a conscience. Indeed, Greene’s warning came less than a week after her “60 Minutes” interview with Lesley Stahl in which she claimed that “Democrats are a party of pedophiles” and envisioned an America that has a Christian government, a national abortion ban, zero immigration for four years, and no FBI, among other disturbing statements.
The thing is, Greene hates Loomer not because she is a dangerous, detestable person, but for personal reasons. “She spent months lying about me and attacking me just because I supported Kevin McCarthy for Spearer and after I had refused to endorse her last election cycle,” Greene tweeted on Friday. Back in November, after Loomer attacked her, Greene posted on Telegram that Loomer is “desperately trying to remain relevant” while being “obsessed” with her.
While it should be a no-brainer that people like Loomer should have no place on any presidential campaign, Greene’s adoption of this position is not the refreshing bright light of morality that it may at first appear to be. While imploring Trump to forget about Loomer, Greene pontificated, “Never hire or do business with a liar”—despite the fact that her “60 Minutes” interview, to cite one recent example, was chock full of lies.
New reporting from The Hill reveals that Greene’s pressure campaign worked and Trump won’t be hiring Loomer after all. Greene was on the right side of this narrow issue, though it was for all the wrong reasons. Greene is the same detestable politician she was a week ago.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month