Trump dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene’s fears
Donald Trump has doubled down on his attacks on Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, rejecting claims her criticisms put her in danger.
Greene said Saturday that Trump’s online criticism had sparked a wave of threats against her. He told CNN on Sunday morning that Trump calling him a traitor was the “most hurtful” part of his remarks.
Trump repeated the insult hours later.
“Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene,” he said.
“I don’t think his life is in danger… I don’t think anybody cares about him,” the president told reporters Sunday night before boarding Air Force One from his Mar-a-Lago social club in Florida to return to Washington, D.C.
Greene, a U.S. House member from Georgia who is loyal to Trump, has recently taken positions that put her at odds with the president.
He said that private security firms contacted him on Saturday and warned him about his security, and that harsh attacks against him had previously resulted in death threats.
He linked his rift with the president to his support for the release of records related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump has dismissed the outrage over the Epstein case as a “hoax” pushed by Democrats, but Greene was one of four House Republicans who signed a petition Wednesday to force a vote on releasing all of the Justice Department’s files on Epstein.
The dramatic break between the two longtime allies points to a deeper fracture in Trump’s Republican base and raises questions about the stability of his support at the far right of the ideological spectrum.
Trump broke up with Greene on Friday night in a boring social media post in which he referred to Greene as “crazy” and a “crazy lunatic.”
He continued with more social media posts over the weekend, calling him a “Congressman Lite,” a “Traitor,” and a “disgrace” to the Republican Party.
The president also wrote that conservative voters in Greene’s district might consider her a primary challenger and would support the right candidate against her in next year’s congressional elections.
Despite his attacks on Greene, Trump wrote on social media Sunday night: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide…”
Over the weekend, Trump persistently rebuffed reporters’ questions about the release of the Epstein files.
