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‘You simply don’t have the range’: Lincoln Project responds after Marjorie Taylor Greene calls group ‘traitors’ in Trump-style tweet

It’s the latest spat involving the bomb-throwing congresswoman

Josh Marcus
San Francisco
Sunday 31 January 2021 17:05 EST
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GOP should cut ties with Marjorie Taylor Greene, says McConnell adviser

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The Lincoln Project fired back at insults from incendiary Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, telling her she simply doesn’t “have the range” to pull off a string of Trump-style claims she lobbed at the group, including calling them “traitors” and “Biden’s little tool.”

It’s the latest intra-party spat involving Ms Greene—who has a history of supporting violent threats against Democratic lawmakers, promoting conspiracies like Qanon and Stop the Steal, and making racist and Islamophobic comments—and a sign of how the Republican party is wrangling over what its tone should be after Donald Trump’s chaotic exit from the White House.

The back-and-forth began when the Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump conservatives known for their biting political ads, tried to get the hashtag “#TraitorMcCarthy” trending, a reference to GOP House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who met with former president Trump on Thursday and effusively praised him. After the meeting, Mr McCarthy said in a statement that, “President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time,” after previously condemning the president in harsh terms just a few weeks before for inciting the Capitol riot. 

Ms Greene fired back, calling them “traitors” and “a bunch of America last losers” who “wallow in the same pit with the bloodthirsty media and the socialist democrats (sic).”

Leader McCarthy has plans to meet with Ms Greene next week, following reporting on a string of incidents where Ms Greene made controversial and shocking comments before getting elected, including harassing the survivors of school shootings, implying Muslim members of Congress weren’t legitimate because they were sworn in on Qurans, and past posts on social media endorsing violent threats against elected Democrats.

Mr McCarthy was one of the few elected Republicans to condemn Ms Greene’s conduct, which has led one of her Democratic colleagues to seek her expulsion from Congress, and another, Cori Bush, to move to a new office after Ms Greene allegedly harassed Ms Bush and her staff for asking the Georgia rep to wear a face mask.

"These comments are deeply disturbing, and Leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them," Mark Bednar, a spokesperson for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, told Axios.

Still, despite her shocking remarks, Ms Greene said on Saturday she has the full backing of former president Trump and spoke with him on Saturday, meaning Mr Trump’s scorched Earth style of insult politics, where opponents are labeled “enemies of the people,” might not be going anywhere.

“I’m so grateful for his support and more importantly the people of this country are absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people and America First," she wrote on Twitter following the conversation.

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