Noting that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is “unaware” of something may not seem like headline news, given that the Congresswoman from Georgia/Loudmouth from Crazytown generally speaks at length and at volume about many subjects on which she clearly doesn’t have a firm grasp.
And yet her latest factually sketchy stance still deserves to be discussed. Once again proving herself a fountain of empathy, MTG celebrated what Politico described as a “bloodbath at RNC” as Donald Trump and his team fired “dozens of staffers” from the Republic National Committee following the former President officially becoming the GOP’s election candidate.
“MAGA is now in control of the Republican Party!!” Marj proclaimed, coming perilously close to sounding like Emperor Palpatine declaring “I am the Senate!” She continued: “We will continue to need everyone’s help all the way across the finish line! Do not grow weary. Dig deeper.”
Presumably, Greene was indicating how she’s about to dig deeper into her bottomless pit of delusional thinking as the fallout of last week’s State of the Union address has left many questioning the power of MAGA in 2024. As The Nation has convincingly argued, while the MAGA branding may well have been instrumental to Trump’s rise back in 2016 the “Make America Great Again” slogan and associated tacky merchandising now feels tired and far less effective.
Take MTG’s own misguided MAGA modelling at the SOTU. If you draw yourself away from her garish ensemble and shameless flouting of the laws of the Capitol — yes, her outfit wasn’t just disrespectful but outright illegal, breaking the prohibition on overt electioneering — you might’ve noticed that Marj’s MAGA hat was not a new edition made for 2024 but came from Trump’s 2020 election campaign — which he lost bigly, just to remind you. Apparently, Team Trump isn’t even creating new merch this time around.
With Marjorie adorning herself with MAGA imagery as she committed an illegal offense while yapping on about “illegals,” and throwing all vestiges of professionalism out the window as she heckled President Biden during his address, you could say MTG offered a perfect encapsulation of Trump’s third run for office: a tired attempt to recapture past glories, making use of desperate ploys at grabbing attention. As The Nation points out, MTG “lives for these camera-ready moments of political theater,” but in this case the show didn’t perform as hoped.
And speaking of bad performances, then came Katie Britt in a Republican Response to the SOTU that earned instant national ridicule and a pitch-perfection impersonation from Scarlett Johansson in record time. It’s unclear if Britt succeeded at winning over any new converts to Trump’s side with her audition tape for Get Out 2, but she certainly succeeded in ruining her credibility and maybe opening the eyes of many to the fact that Trump’s old tricks ain’t quite what they used to be.
“Do not grow weary,” MTG tells her followers, but evidence suggests the MAGA brand may not have enough life left in it to make it over that proverbial “finish line.”