Marjorie Taylor Greene's Break With Trump Is a Big Deal-but Not for the Reason You Think

"There are a whole lot of MAGA lunatics on the Republican side of the Congressional aisle, but if one is listing off the absolute craziest, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's name goes at the top. She, after all, is the congresswoman who theorized that Jewish space lasers sparked the California wildfires, that the government controls the weather, and that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump."

"She once speculated that Sandy Hook was a false flag. She was a QAnon adherent, someone who believed powerful Democrats and business leaders were part of an international ring of pedophile devil-worshipers-and that Trump was on a mission from God to bring them to justice, like some sort of spray-tanned Blues Brother. "There's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it," she said."

"Now, though, Greene seems to be burrowing herself out of the conspiracy-theory hole, apologizing for past sins, and maybe even seeing the light of reality for the first time. She has split with Trump over his handling of the Epstein files-resulting in a very public falling-out between the two. This leaves Democrats in an uncomfortable place. Do they welcome the potential convert with open arms? Or ice out the woman with a long history of vile behavior and unhinged bigotry?"

Marjorie Taylor Greene previously promoted extreme conspiracy theories, including Jewish space lasers causing wildfires, government weather control, a stolen 2020 election, and QAnon-related false-flag claims. She once suggested Sandy Hook was staged and described a global cabal of 'Satan-worshiping pedophiles' that Trump would defeat. Recently Greene has publicly distanced herself from some conspiracies, apologized, and split with Donald Trump over his handling of Epstein files. Democrats face a choice between welcoming her shift toward reality and maintaining political distance. Collaboration on shared legislation is sensible, while avoiding elevating her into a Democratic political symbol remains prudent.

Read at Slate Magazine