ROME, Ga. — Not many Republican politicians have dared criticize President Donald Trump — and a few bold souls who’ve tried have seen their careers collapse.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now facing the president’s wrath, but in a sign of broader fissures within the MAGA movement, she just may survive the blowback, interviews with about 20 of her constituents suggest.
Once an unflinching Trump loyalist, Greene now faults him for spending too much time on meet-and-greets with foreign leaders when many people at home are struggling to pay bills.
“People in my district are having a very hard time,” she told NBC News in a recent interview.
“And I think that many voters are feeling a little disenfranchised because the domestic issues have not been the priority,” she added.
Trump, in turn, is angry about her apostasy. He pulled his support for her and has signaled that he’d be open to endorsing a Republican challenger to her in the 2026 midterm congressional elections.
He’s called her a “traitor” and said she is “wacky,” a “lunatic.”
Greene has bristled over what she calls his “vicious attacks” and worried that they are “a dog whistle to dangerous radicals that could lead to serious attacks on me and my family.”
All of which leaves voters in northwest Georgia feeling a bit like a heartsick family swept up in an unexpected divorce.
“That’s not right. It’s not right,” Debbie Dyer, 60, said of Trump’s accusation. “She should not be seen as a traitor. She’s trying to do the best for the American people and I think Donald Trump should accommodate her and work for America.”
“She has a lot of courage and tells it like it is,” added Dyer, who lives in Dalton, near the Tennessee border, and works at a carpet company.
Greene’s office did not return a request for comment for this article.
Greene’s 14th Congressional District likes Trump, but it likes her, too. Greene often eats at the Blossom Hill restaurant, with her “go-to” sandwich being the “Angry Pig” (pulled pork, jalapeños and fried onions served with a choice of sides).
Trump won her district in the 2024 presidential race with 68% of the vote; Greene won re-election with 64%. Virtually everyone interviewed has heard about the feud between the president and the congresswoman. Who goes with mom; who stays with dad?
“Some people are struggling with it. Some are choosing Team Marjorie, and some are Team Trump,” said Angela Dollar, a local Republican official in Floyd County, part of Greene’s district.
