The GOP is so disliked by the American public that even its own members are practicing self-hate, as infighting and disagreements continue to bar the party’s ability to actually get things done.
The Republican disunion that currently defines the political right has been prevalent for years, but since the rise of Donald Trump, it’s come to define the party. The political leaders he’s helped harken into office — your Marjorie Taylor Greenes, Lauren Boeberts, and Matt Gaetzes — are more bluster than business, which leads to a new GOP policy of polarization over policy. It was this strife, in part, that led to former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s ousting and to his replacement’s fragile position.
That replacement, current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, has seen ceaseless pushback from a portion of his own party in the months since he secured the job. It’s led to a complete shutdown in efficacy for the necessary governmental body and an influx of hate from several of the GOP’s most vocal members. At the head of the pack is the ever-outraged Greene, who’s been aiming for Johnson’s throat since the start.
Despite her ceaseless campaign to discredit, and seemingly displace, the current Speaker, not to mention her pro-level bootlicking of Trump at any and every opportunity, it seems Greene’s fawning isn’t getting her far. Trump, showcasing his typical contempt for his most avid supporters, tossed Marj under the bus in favor of her biggest Republican opponent in early April.
Speaking at Mar-a-Lago during a joint news conference, Trump discredited Greene’s anti-Johnson campaign with a few simple sentiments. He commended the 52-year-old Johnson for his work as Speaker of the House, and noted that he gets “along very well with the Speaker.” The former president even had praise for Johnson’s tenure as Speaker so far, adding that, in Trump’s eyes, “he’s doing a very good job.”
That goes directly against Greene’s entire narrative, but in a lame attempt to appease both parties, Trump even tried to link Johnson’s biggest opponent into his praise. He told reporters that Marjorie surely recognizes what a good job Johnson is doing, and outright lied when he said, “I know she has a lot of respect for the Speaker.”
Greene’s social media contains more than enough evidence to the contrary. On a near-hourly basis, she returns to her socials to tweet out another disparaging attack on Johnson, bombarding him as incompetent, “completely disconnected with voters,” and labeling him the “Deep State Speaker of the House.” In the last few days alone she’s compared Johnson to Nancy Pelosi (a horrific insult among the brainless GOP), accused him of providing “the deep state the tools to kill Trump,” and, hours ago, demanded that Johnson “announce a resignation date” so that Republicans can elect a new, even more incompetent Speaker in his place.
The dual undermining is hilarious to watch, as Trump undercut’s Marj’s months-long scheme to oust Johnson even as Greene likewise cripples Trump’s peacekeeping efforts with unceasing attacks on the very man he’s claiming she “has a lot of respect for.” Where was that respect when she was calling for him to resign so Republicans can elect “a new Speaker to put America First and pass a Republican agenda?”
For a while there, there was one persisting thing far-right politicians could hang their hats on: unity. The party was in perfect lock-step as they devoted their entire attention to Trump, Trump’s goals, getting Trump reelected, and echoing Trump talking points. Now, as they lose sight of the one thing that lent them efficacy, the GOP is crumbling even more — and this is a ship we’ll happily watch sink.