From MAGA icon to ‘traitor’: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s dramatic split with Trump

US lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former ally of US President Donald Trump, on Friday (Nov 21) announced that she was resigning from her seat in the House of Representatives amid the row over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and some other issues. This comes a week after Trump pulled his support for the former staunch ally, branding her a “traitor” and “wacky”.

Once a staunch Trump ally, Greene has always delivered shocks to Democrats and liberal rivals. However, in recent weeks, she had been rebelling against Trump, calling for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, which the US president has avoided until recently signing a law for making the documents public.

Here’s a timeline of Marjorie Taylor Greene, her career, and relationship with Trump:

Greene first started writing for the conspiracy-heavy site American Truth Seekers in 2017. Soon after, she joined the Family America Project, marking her entry into political activism.

In 2020, Greene ran for Congress from Georgia’s 14th district. Running as a pro-Trump candidate, she soon gained popularity. Trump later endorsed her in the runoff and she achieved an easy win in the general elections.

On her first day in office, Greene started off her bold journey as she arrived in Washington wearing a “Trump won” mask despite former president Joe Biden’s victory.

Over time, Greene became a symbol of the extremist, conspiracy-orientated mindset of Trump’s Make American Great Again (MAGA) movement, with openly endorsing threats against Democrats. In 2018, she suggested that wildfire was sparked by a space laser and that the government could control the weather.

Despite her past loyalty, Greene increasingly drifted away from Trump and MAGAs over several issues. She condemned the Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide” and strongly pushed for the release of the Epstein files, stances often opposed by Trump and his supporters.

On November 14, Trump slammed Greene on his Truth Social platform, calling her ‘Wacky’ and accusing her of being a ‘traitor’ to Republicans for her views.

A week later, Greene announced that she would resign from her Congressional seat in January. “If I am cast aside by MAGA Inc and replaced by Neocons, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Military Industrial War Complex, foreign leaders, and the elite donor class that can’t even relate to real Americans, then many common Americans have been cast aside and replaced as well,” she said.