As we watch our local, state and federal elected officials in office and action, their public media appearances and more salacious comments tend to overly define their public persona. I have told many for decades, particularly if the official is part of your community or represents you, to try to find an opportunity to meet and greet them in person and up close, before you decide to lock and load on your opinion and assessment. Which brings me to Georgia’s 14th District Congresswoman, and resident spitfire, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Rome). I first met MTG through her family business, Taylor Construction, at a holiday party being held by Cox Media Group. Taylor Construction was a longtime WSB Radio advertiser.
Major Cox clients and advertisers mixed and mingled with WSB-TV and Radio management, sales team members and news talent. MTG was articulate, poised and professional, and though I had been the radio and TV station’s political analyst for several years at that point, she made no comments, nor asked any questions of a public policy or political nature.
Years later, Taylor Construction would become a substantial donor to the annual WSB Radio Care-athon, benefitting the AFLAC Cancer & Blood Disorders Services Center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Leading advertisers and corporate citizens like Taylor help WSB listeners raise $1-2 million per year, and to date more than $30-million towards pediatric cancer research, treatments, cures and support for family members with children going through often extensive and expensive treatment.
During 2020, When Congressman Tom Graves (R-Ranger) retired from Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the state’s most reliably conservative, to become a lobbyist and spend more time with his family. Then political neophyte, MTG would seek and win that seat, in the process also becoming among the most ardent and visible supporters of President Donald J. Trump during the 2020 contests. As we know the outcomes that fall, MTG’s stocks were on the rise, while Mr. Trump’s were on the decline.
Having previously experienced the business face first and more polished, MTG, I admit it was challenging reconciling this with the later more ‘clown car’ version of her, so inexplicably and blindly loyal to DJT. Though frequently critical of House Speakers and the architect of the fall of prior Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), until quite recently, in MTG’s eyes, DJT could do no wrong.
The shift started to become visible during the most recent government shutdown, which would also become the country’s longest. Congress was in recess, and as MTG spent more time at home in her district, she became more vocal over concerns of inflation, price cuts never materializing, the rear end impact of tariff costs and most significantly the spiraling costs of health care. MTG began to loudly criticize the current Speaker, Mike Johnson as well as the leadership of the Georgia GOP and RNC as rudderless Boys’ Clubs.
MTG’s ‘space’ between her own views and party leadership began to grow as did questions of whether or not these changes were real or simply a new positioning for MTG 2.0.
MTG emphasized that her focus had not changed. She was still putting America and her constituents first. She also continued to vocally support the victims of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and for the release of all documents and files to identify the other perpetrators, beyond Ghislaine Maxwell, noting that there was still NO MAN doing any kind of time for the several thousand victims of Epstein’s crimes.
The government re-opened. House Democrats and the Republicans release new Epstein documents and Emails, and then Trump releases a torrent of shots at MTG, referring to her rants and instability, and concluding that not only has “Marjorie lost her way,’ but that the President will work with the ‘good people of her district’ to find another conservative to support and run in the 2026 Primaries against her.
MTG fired back on Truth Social and elsewhere, even sharing several of her earlier private text exchanges with the President. By week’s end, MTG said, “I truly just stand with the women.” (Source: BBC).
Oddly, though not citing MTG, in roughly 48 hours, Trump reversed course on holding up the Epstein files, announcing that the U.S. Justice Department was now investigating Democrats involved with Epstein, and tranches of several more thousand pages of documents would soon be released. Can’t quite call this a win for MTG, but DJT did cave.
Have never lived in the Georgia 14th District, nor been an MTG voter or supporter, but I have to admit I will now be watching this 2026 re-election effort with more than mild interest.
The post One man’s opinion: MTG 2.0 appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.
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