(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene hit back at President Donald Trump on Tuesday at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol alongside women victimized by late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump withdrew his support for Greene, one of his staunchest allies, over the weekend after she criticized him and his administration for their handling of the Epstein investigation, along with other matters.
“I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for five, no, actually, six years for, and I gave him my loyalty for free,” Greene said, referencing a social media post from Trump over the weekend where he called her “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene.”
“I won my first election without his endorsement, beating eight men in a primary, and I’ve never owed him anything, but I fought for him, for the policies and for America first, and he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition.”
Greene appeared to insinuate on Tuesday that Trump was the “traitor.”
“Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me now,” Greene continued.
The comments came ahead of Tuesday’s House vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to release all files related to Epstein, an effort Trump opposed for months before suddenly reversing himself as it became clear enough Republicans would vote in favor.
At the press conference with Epstein survivors outside the Capitol, Greene was praised by the bill’s co-sponsors Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie as well as several survivors.
“When Ro and I started this effort, most discharge petitions never make it, maybe only 4%, so we had long odds, but we had some brave women on the Republican side. My colleague, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is one of them who’s here with us today. You cannot even imagine the consequences that they have suffered,” Massie said.
Survivor Haley Robson, in her remarks, said if Greene ever decided to read names of people connected to Epstein on the House floor, she would stand with her and hold her hand.
Greene on Tuesday was asked if she takes Trump at his word after he said on Monday he would sign the bill to release the Epstein files if it reaches his desk, and if she has confidence these files will be released.
“I only take people’s actions seriously, no longer words,” Greene said.
“I’ll tell you, because I’m — I wasn’t a Johnny-come-lately to the MAGA train. I was Day 1 [in] 2015. And there’s a big difference in those Americans and those that decided to support President Trump later on,” Greene said.
Greene said “watching this actually turn into a fight has ripped MAGA apart.”
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