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LGBTQ POLITICS - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) reportedly has her sights set on being Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024.
NBC News reports that two sources who have spoken to the far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ congresswoman about her ambitions, said Greene is laser focused on becoming the former president’s VP pick.
Greene’s “whole vision is to be vice president,” according to one person who has advised the congresswoman. The source, who has ties to Trump, spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity.
Former Trump aid Steve Bannon agreed. “This is no shrinking violet. She’s ambitious — she’s not shy about that, nor should she be,” Bannon said. “She sees herself on the short list for Trump’s VP. Paraphrasing Cokie Roberts, when MTG looks in the mirror she sees a potential president smiling back.”
Both sources believe Greene’s recent rebrand as a bridge between the Republican party’s hardliners and establishment wing is likely part of her effort to make herself a more viable VP candidate.
Greene has a reputation as a firebrand, prone to making incendiary statements that have endeared her to the far-right while alienating some of her more centrist colleagues in the House. But her support of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in his protracted bid to become House Speaker has now alienated some in the far-right House Freedom Caucus.
“She’s both strategic and disciplined — she made a power move, knowing it would run up hard against her most ardent crew,” said Bannon. “She was prepared to take the intense heat/hatred short-term for the long-term goal of being a player.”
But as NBC notes, Greene’s superior fundraising and her new committee assignments in the new Republican-led House are likely to repair her relations with the party’s hard-liners and raise her profile even further. Her positions on the House Oversight, Homeland Security, and COVID Select committees give her the opportunity to participate in investigations of the Biden Administration and the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Trump announced his third campaign for the White House in November. His break with former Vice President Mike Pence over Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election opens the field for other potential running mates.
“I haven’t even talked to Steve Bannon about it,” Greene told NBC News in response to Bannon’s comments.
“Congresswoman Greene is laser focused on serving the people of Northwest Georgia on her new committees in the GOP majority,” Greene spokesman Nick Dyer said. “Her work on Oversight, Homeland Security, and the COVID Select committee is her priority and people shouldn’t get wrapped up into rumors.”
(John Russell is a writer for LGBTQnation.com where this story was first featured.)
