Democracy Dies in Darkness

The core weakness of the Republican Party, on raucous display

Analysis by
National columnist
February 8, 2023 at 10:57 a.m. EST
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reacts during President Biden's State of the Union address at a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
6 min

Why is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in Congress?

The 2020 campaign that first brought her to Washington wasn’t centered on the policy proposals Greene wanted to enact as a legislator. Her campaign was instead centered mostly on fringe rhetoric and chastisements of the D.C. establishment, including members of her own party. This was amplified after Republican leaders like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized past comments of Greene’s that were racist or endorsed the QAnon conspiracy theory.