Reflecting on Marjorie Taylor Greene's change

One of the most ardent of President Trump’s supporters in Congress for the past five years has been the Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. But in the first week of January she abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives having publicly split with President Trump on a number of issues as vocally as she had supported him for most of those five years.

When she was first elected to the House in 2020, her politics were regarded by many as so extreme that within a month of her arrival she was removed from all her committee positions in the House after she had publicly endorsed the use of political violence.

Two years later, she was removed from one of the key Republican groups in the House for publicly insulting a colleague.

"MJT," as she is often known, was the most fiery of political firebrands, the most MAGA (Make America Great Again) of the Trump MAGA world. So the split when it came was certainly a head turner. So why did it happen?

Criticism

It would appear from reputable media sources that there were a number of underlying issues, but then one that trumped everything else. She became critical of the Trump administration’s policy in Gaza calling the war there a "genocide." She began to give voice to a feeling that Trump was losing his way in his second term – giving too much time to the interests of his wealthy billionaire friends rather than to those of the working-class Americans that had helped re-elect him. And she felt strongly that Trump had reneged on his campaign promise to release all the material held by the federal government in the "Epstein Files" regarding the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

President Trump doesn’t like people who criticise him in public. Retribution quickly followed with the President referring to her in one of his infamous social media posts as "Marjorie 'Traitor' Greene." That, for Greene – along with veiled threats from others against her family on social media – seemed to be the last straw.

Charlie Kirk's memorial service

These were undoubtedly some of the underlying reasons for Greene’s break with Trump, but there was something else that had pushed her into this surprising decision and it goes back to the assassination of the 31 year old conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk in September 2025.

At his memorial service, Kirk’s widow, Erika, told the large crowd that because of her Christian faith, she forgave her husband’s assassin – an extraordinary witness not only to those in the auditorium but to the millions watching on TV and live video feeds.

Erika Kirk was followed by President Trump who had been invited to give the final eulogy. "He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great purpose," Trump said of Kirk. "He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them." ^[1]

Greene would later comment: "That was absolutely the worst statement. It just shows where [Trump’s] heart is. And that’s the difference, with her [Erika Kirk] having a sincere Christian faith, and it proves that he does not have any faith."

But in saying that, Greene said she came to realise that she was saying something about herself too – that she had adopted the "never apologise, never admit you’re wrong" mindset of Trump and the MAGA faithful. Maybe she recalled that she had once falsely and publicly accused the former Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of treason, adding that such crimes are punishable by imprisonment or death.

"After Charlie died," Greene later admitted in a media interview, "I realised that I’m part of this toxic culture. I really started looking at my faith. I wanted to be more like Christ."

"I wanted to be more like Christ." That’s quite a statement to make so publicly.

A few days later, Greene was challenged by CNN interviewer Dana Bash as to whether she wasn’t being a hypocrite – accusing the President of doing what she had been doing for years, that is using toxic language about her political opponents. Greene readily conceded that this was "fair criticism," and then added: "I would like to say, humbly, I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics. It’s very bad for our country." ^[2]

It would be truly wonderful if this is a genuine act of repentance by Ms. Greene, and if others were to follow her stand. Time will tell.

1. The quotations in this article [except where otherwise stated] are taken from Robert Draper’s article in The New York Times Magazine, 29 December, 2025 – ‘I Was Just So Naïve’: Inside Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Break With Trump.
2. Alleen Graef, CNN Politics, 17 November, 2025.