Different politicians honor the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in different ways, though it’s probably fair to say Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene took a Sept. 11 step no other member of Congress thought to take. The Daily Beast noted:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) observed the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Monday by running the idea of states’ secession up the flagpole; something that, the last time it happened, triggered a Civil War.
“If the Biden admin refuses to stop the invasion of cartel led human and drug trafficking into our country, states should consider seceding from the union,” the Georgia Republican wrote via social media. Greene went on to describe President Joe Biden’s policies as “traitorous.”
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination. In late 2021, Greene briefly referenced “a National Divorce scenario” that seemed to allude to the dissolution of the United States. About a year later, the Georgia Republican seemed to predict a “national divorce” in response to the CDC adding Covid shots to its list of recommended vaccine schedules.
Earlier this year, as some elected officials released statements recognizing the Presidents’ Day holiday, the right-wing congresswoman published a message that steered clear of traditional American patriotism. “We need a national divorce,” Greene wrote. “We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s [sic] traitorous America Last policies, we are done.”
That was in February. Yesterday, the public learned that she apparently hasn’t changed her mind.
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan responded to Greene’s latest missive, writing, “In any normal political world, this would require lots of other top Republicans to denounce MTG’s remarks. They’d be asked about them constantly. It’d be a huge scandal.”
I think this is both accurate and underappreciated. All things considered, it’s become easy to shrug in response to Greene’s routine extremism. The GOP congresswoman has now repeatedly raised the specter of formally dividing the United States, reinforcing the impression that this is her genuine desire: Greene apparently does not want to be part of the same country as Americans she disagrees with. But more interesting than the Georgia Republican’s radicalism is the question of what her party intends to do with this information. Have we reached the point in our collective history at which members of Congress can espouse such ideas with impunity? Do GOP leaders simply no longer care about those in their midst promoting secession? Or are Republicans simply too afraid of their radicalized base to say anything critical? As recently as July, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy thought it’d be a good idea to celebrate Greene as “one of the best” members of the GOP conference, and “one of the strongest legislators” in the House. The California Republican added at the time, “I support Marjorie Greene very strongly.” Two months later, the follow-up question for McCarthy is simple: As Greene continues to promote secession, does the House speaker still see her as “one of the best” members of his conference?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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