Can Someone Like Marjorie Taylor Greene Really Change?
Not without some meaningful accountability.
I badly want to believe in the power of people to change, grow, and evolve from this tense political moment we’re in—but I just can’t shake the feeling that Marjorie Taylor Greene is completely and totally full of shit.
There’s this furious debate online about whether MTG has actually broken away from Trumpism, or if it’s just a cynical attempt to run for president because she sees the writing on the wall: Trump is falling apart over Epstein, the economy, and his corruption. My guess? It’s the more cynical version. And maybe it’s just the political consultant in me, but I can very plainly see a path for Marjorie Taylor Greene to try and carve out a lane for herself—to become some kind of power broker inside whatever new coalition the Republicans try to build to win in 2028.
I could definitely see her teaming up with someone like Tucker Carlson, who in his own way is also breaking from MAGA and trying to define his own identity for a future presidential run. But that’s a rant for another time.
I think about all this in the context of my buddy Joe Walsh—a former Tea Party congressman from the great state of Illinois. He and I do a weekly show, Welcome To The Party, Pal!, every Friday. He’s by far one of my favorite people in this space. I told Joe when we first met: Don’t look up my tweets from 20 years ago—I can’t imagine they were flattering to you. We both had a good laugh about it.
And with Joe, I still hear from people who doubt whether his conversion—from Tea Party congressman to member of the anti-Trump resistance—is sincere. I was skeptical at first too. But as I got to know Joe, listened to him talk, had private and public conversations with him, I realized the depth of his sincerity runs far deeper than I ever imagined. He’s a good, decent man and a man of principle. He took the path he did to get where he is, but he genuinely believes what he says about Trump being a danger to this country. And I’ve seen that over time.
And it’s not just that Joe changed—he took a blowtorch to his own career to do it. He walked away from the right-wing echo chamber. He gave up access, power, and money. He alienated himself from people who used to cheer for him. All because he knew Trumpism was wrong and he had to stand against it. That’s what real risk looks like. That’s what real courage looks like. That’s what walking the talk looks like.
And I just don’t see anything like that—real self-accountability—from Marjorie Taylor Greene… yet.
She hasn’t sacrificed anything. If anything, she’s maneuvering to gain more power, not less. More attention, not less. So how courageous is it really?
Joe captured this perfectly in a post he shared this week:
“Quick, initial take on @mtgreenee: As a onetime divisive right-wing political asshole, I publicly came out against Trump & stopped being a divisive asshole over 7yrs ago. Since then, I’ve spent every day these past 7yrs proving the sincerity of my conversion, and doing all I can to defeat Trump/Trumpism. MTG will have to walk down this same road. I appreciate her pledging to no longer be a divisive asshole, but now she’s gotta prove it. And btw, does she still support Trump?”
That’s the core of it. This is a road. It takes time. It takes showing up over and over again—in public and in private—with humility and grace and doing the damn work. Not just saying the right things for one news cycle.
I’ve often said I’m okay with a Democratic coalition that ranges from Zohran Mamdani to Joe Walsh. We need that kind of big-tent coalition right now to defeat the fascist forces actively corrupting our country.
But then I saw Congressman Jamie Raskin—someone I deeply respect—say that we need a coalition that reaches all the way out to Marjorie Taylor Greene. And that’s where he loses me. Because MTG has not earned the trust and attention she’s currently getting.
Yes, I’ll be the first to admit: as she’s turned on Trump, she’s gone much further than I ever expected. I figured the most she’d do was go on The View and complain about the economy. But she’s gone further. Trump is attacking her now. And outwardly, it looks like a genuine break. Maybe.
But again, the more cynical version? She wanted to run statewide in Georgia and was told not to by GOP insiders. So now she’s decided the only way forward is to run for president—to get the attention and access she wants. She’s reading the same polling I am. She sees how deeply unpopular Trump is. The rest of the MAGA movement might be in total denial, but their dear leader is absolutely in political danger.
So yes, it’s cynical. But let’s pretend for a moment it’s sincere. What do we do?
I believe we should embrace people who are waking up to what’s happening in this country—waking up to the corruption, the rot, the terrible economic decisions that are dragging this economy off a cliff. People like my dad. He’s not suddenly a Democrat, but he sure as hell sees what’s going on in Washington, and he’s pissed about it. We’ll have him back on the show soon to talk about that.
But when it comes to Marjorie Taylor Greene—we have to be more cynical. She can be useful in reaching certain people who need an exit ramp off the MAGA train. And that’s fine. I’m happy to do that. But we should always keep one eye on her. Because this can absolutely come back to bite us.
If she wants to earn trust, she has to earn it over time—with her engagement, her apologies, her votes. She needs to confront the harm she’s caused—especially to gun violence victims and the Jewish community. She needs to stare into the abyss and reckon with it. And she needs to show her evolution in policy and in the people she surrounds herself with.
If she does the real work—maybe there’s a path. Maybe. I want to leave room for grace. I want to believe people can change. That someone—even someone like MTG—could be pulled into something as horrific as MAGA and still find a way out of it.
But we’ve also got to be mindful of the WWE-style politics we’re in—where people flip their “gimmick” all the time. We’ve seen plenty of heel and face turns in recent years. Trump’s done it. Gavin Newsom’s arguably done it. A host of grifters have too—Lindy Li comes to mind. Plenty of others have too.
So if Marjorie Taylor Greene is pulling a gimmick change? Fine. But let’s not get sucked into it.
Find the ways she can be useful in the short term politically. If she helps defeat Trump—great. But keep one eye on her. Stay skeptical of everything she says and does for a long time.
Don’t fall for its. She needs to do A HELL OF A LOT OF WORK to undo the damage she has caused before I give her any time of day.
She is attempting to position herself for bigger & better things. There's a complete lack of sincerity, integrity in her statements. This is all just a ploy. Let's not take the bait!