Bye Felicia
MTG, Trump, and Draining the Swamp
Many in the MAGA Truther community ascribe to the idea that Trump engages in kayfabe. Sometimes the feuds he participates in aren’t what they seem; they’re fake fights meant to manipulate or throw off the enemies of freedom, the Deep State. I am one of those who thinks he uses this technique. When one is taking on a Globalist Cabal that has embedded itself into probably every country on Earth, some level of deception is going to be required to defeat said Cabal. You can’t go around telegraphing all your moves and painting giant targets on all your allies for the convenience of your enemies.
That being said, I don’t think Trump’s feud with Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of those kayfabe moments. In my view, sometimes MAGA Truthers go a bit overboard with seeing kayfabe in every fight that Trump has, especially with people who are seen as on his side. We are in a war — a (thankfully) mostly non-kinetic, info and psychological war, but a war nonetheless. And in war, there are real enemies, real infiltrators, and even real traitors that need to be exposed.
For a long time, I left room for the possibility that Trump and MTG’s brewing feud was kayfabe, even if my gut was telling me it was a low possibility. However, watching MTG’s resignation video set off all sorts of alarm bells, and, at that point, the idea that this was all kayfabe went down to a near-zero possibility in my mind.
It seems the primary (heh) reason MTG is resigning is because she doesn’t want her district to have to go through the primary process if Trump is set against her. Not because she thinks she will lose to whoever Trump’s preferred candidate will be, but because she thinks she will still win while Republicans, on a whole, lose the Midterms. When Republicans (but not her) lose the Midterms, Democrats will then try to impeach Trump (again), and she will be expected to defend him, even though he campaigned against her. “It’s all so absurd,” she says, which is absolutely true. This scenario that she has concocted is absurd.
It is so absurd that I actually misunderstood her the first time I watched her video (during which she speaks at a molasses slow speed; watch it on double speed or read her statement here if you prefer). I thought she was saying that she didn’t want to go through (or put her district through…whatever that means) being primaried because she would likely lose if Trump were against her. And that would be fair enough. Campaigns are expensive, time-consuming, and stressful. I can see not wanting to put yourself, your family, and your millions of dollars (that you somehow made while in Congress) through something that you are certain you will end up losing. But according to her own statement, that is not her concern.
She thinks she can beat this hypothetical person whom Trump will be endorsing, but then she would be expected to defend Trump when the Democrats inevitably get back into power and impeach him, which doesn’t make any sense. Even if her scenario turned out to be true, if she were to go head-to-head with a Trump-endorsed candidate and win (assuming no election fraud favoring her is involved, of course), then that would be her district sending a clear message that they don’t want someone who toes the line for Trump. They would be sending a message that they think MTG, not Trump, is the true representative of America First values. Which would mean they wouldn’t expect her to defend Trump, if it came down to it.
If she is truly representing the people of her district in her actions, even when those actions put her at odds with Trump, then why is she denying her district the opportunity to be truly represented? If she is sincere, why would she simply turn her district over to some Trump sycophant? As she said, “It’s all so absurd.”
But wait, there’s more.
She is resigning before her term is up. She could simply not seek reelection and finish out her current term. From the rest of her statement, it would seem that she just doesn’t see the point of staying in office as we head into the Midterm campaign season, because Congress will be focused on campaigning rather than getting work done. So never mind that she committed to a whole term when she last ran for office, she’s just going to quit now (well, not now now. More on that in a bit), because she has predetermined that she won’t be able to get any real work done over the next year anyway.
This means that a special election will have to be held after she resigns. Now remember, she doesn’t want to put her district through her being challenged in a primary, but apparently, she is ok with her district going through a special election. An election that will take place off-season. An election where the people will have less time to get to know the candidates. An election when fewer people tend to get out to vote, even when we’re not accounting for the fact that this one will take place shortly after the busy holiday season. She is (apparently) ok with putting her district through this, but not a primary. A primary that we’re meant to believe she thinks she would win.
It’s all so absurd.
In her statement, she makes a comment about how political office shouldn’t be a lifelong profession; we need term limits. I agree wholeheartedly, but she just so happens to be resigning on January 5, 2026, which just so happens to be five years after she originally took office, which also just so happens to be the minimum amount of time a person must remain in office to become eligible for a Congressional pension when he or she turns 62.
So she is against political office as a lifelong profession, but she is going to get her taxpayer-paid pension, which, once she turns 62, she will have for life. Oh, so principled of her.
Furthermore, she is only resigning because of her feud with Trump. Had that not happened, there is zero indication that she would not have run for office yet again. So, even without the pension aspect, it comes off as her only being for term limits and against political office as a lifelong profession when she knows she’s about to get fired.
It’s all so absurd.
Marjorie Taylor Greene originally got into office in 2021, meaning she ran in 2020. As an avid “election denier,” I have always found this notable, especially considering she’s from Georgia, where the fraud was quite blatant. Despite that, I was initially excited about her getting into office. I didn’t really know much about her, but I was happy to see a candidate who seemed to be America First, vocally at least. She talked the talk; she said all the right things. She pointed out election fraud, railed against the COVID response, and shed light on the mistreatment of J6 prisoners. Of course, she was in a lame duck position, so my thoughts were always to wait and see what happens when she is actually able to legislate. Far too many Republicans talk a big talk when they’re in the minority, only to suddenly become impotent the moment they have actual power to do some good. And there was still always that nagging reminder that she (along with a few other supposedly America First candidates) was elected during possibly the most fraudulent election in the entire history of the United States of America.
How did that happen? Perhaps the fraudsters were throwing us a bone. For whatever reason, they let us have a couple of “good” politicians. Maybe to placate us. Maybe to add a veneer of legitimacy to the 2020 elections. After all, one of the Uniparty talking points to supposedly disprove the idea of fraud was that while Trump lost (because he was just so polarizing), the GOP did make gains elsewhere.
As time went on, character flaws started to surface. MTG, allegedly, had multiple affairs leading up to her divorce from her husband. She had a petty feud with fellow America First Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (who also got into office via the 2020 elections and has had her own personal life scandals that call her character into question). And then there was that little bit where MTG somehow increased her net worth from $700,000, when entering office, to $25 million. MTG claims this money came from her construction business, and that may be true; however, she has been dogged with accusations of insider trading after some, shall we say, fortuitously timed trades that happened to coincide with announcements from the current Trump administration. And all of this doesn’t even touch on her various statements and publicity stunts that my readers may or may not approve of.
With the revelation of character flaws, or at the very least the appearance of flaws, in both MTG and other 2020 America First representatives, another layer was added to my thoughts as to why they got in amid election fraud. If MAGA is to be allowed a few token representatives that reflect (or seem to reflect) the America First agenda, perhaps they must be the types who are easy to malign in the press. Conservatives who talk about their desire to restore morality to society and excise corruption from the government would have a really difficult time defending an (alleged) adulteress turned divorcee who questionably made millions while in office (all while running around with a cross around her neck), without looking like (or actually being) hypocrites.
Now, just because someone has low character doesn’t mean they can’t be aligned with you in political views. And this goes for both the Left and the Right. Contrary to popular belief, politics are not an automatic reflection of personal morality or deeply held values. We often, erroneously, think that the people on our side of the political aisle are the Good Guys and therefore must have altruistic motivations. We forget, or fail to recognize, that people can, and often do, pick their political positions for entirely self-serving reasons.
You can have someone on the Left who votes that way because they genuinely believe that the government providing social welfare programs for low-income people is the right thing to do. Conversely, you can have someone voting the same way because they are greedy, selfish, and lazy, and want to take advantage of programs that are meant for the genuinely downtrodden. The same goes for the Right. You can have someone who votes Right-leaning because they think that free-market policies will be good for the nation and its people as a whole. And conversely, you can have someone who votes that way because they only care about how free-market policies will benefit them personally and may even seek to take advantage of those policies even at the expense of others. And this is just talking about everyday people; choosing a side because it is personally beneficial is even more likely to be a factor when we’re talking about people seeking positions of power within the government.
When we start to think that “our side” is wholly made up of good people, we can find ourselves trapped. We can find ourselves defending people who really deserve no defense.
I have certainly seen this with those who are now defending Marjorie Taylor Greene; the people who genuinely think that she is the archetype for an America First politician. When asked why they’re ok with MTG’s timing, which is almost certainly designed so that she can take the pension, I have seen supporters say, “Well, anyone would do that.” Let us set aside the fact that that is not true (multiple people who are or have been in Congress have opted out of their pensions), is this what MTG supporters want out of an America First representative? Someone who participates in a system that incentivizes out-of-touch or (more likely) corrupt politicians to stay in office for decades? That is their idea of “America First?”
When critics of MTG ask about her increasing her net worth by almost $25 million, allegedly, at least partially, via insider trading, her supporters often (though not always) don’t even try to deny those allegations. Instead, they pivot to Nancy Pelosi. “Why is MTG being run out of office before people like Pelosi?” This is such a nonsensical argument, on multiple levels. First, Pelosi is not part of President Trump’s party. Trump is naturally going to be able to exert more pressure on people from his own party, especially on those who claim to be America First, and this is even more true when you have someone who isn’t as entrenched in DC as someone like Nancy Pelosi. Second, MTG says that she thinks she can beat Trump’s preferred candidate, so (if we are to believe she truly believes that) she’s not really being forced out. She’s volunteering to leave because...reasons? And third, and most importantly, once again I must ask, is this what MTG supporters want out of an America First representative? Do they want someone who does the exact same corrupt thing as one of the most corrupt and despicable members of the House of Representatives? Is that what they see as America First?
And for what? What has Marjorie Taylor Greene done to warrant such defense from her supporters? From what I can tell, not much at all. She’s talked. A lot. To my knowledge, she hasn’t introduced any legislation that has become law. While she has all sorts of excuses (perhaps legitimate, perhaps not) for why this is, that doesn’t change the fact that her supporters can’t point to her legislative achievements as a good reason to defend her to the point of excusing what appears to be clear corruption. So that really just leaves her talking. She says the things they like to hear.
And now, she’s quitting. Taking her ball and going home, because Trump said some mean things about her. She stuck it out with Biden for four years, in a position where she had zero chance to do anything legislatively, and where she faced removal from committees and attempts to expel her from Congress. But now, less than a year into Trump’s second term, with a majority (though admittedly a thin one) in both the House and Senate, she can’t stick it out anymore. She can’t even finish out her term. She’s quitting early, making that thin majority all the more precarious.
Remember how I said I was withholding judgment (good or bad) until I found out how she acted when her party was in control? Well, now she is in a position to further the America First agenda, and what has happened? She almost immediately starts turning on Trump. Even if her disagreements with and critiques of Trump are genuinely held (which I am not convinced of), she is still in a better position with Trump in office to do good for her constituents than she ever was when Biden was in office. Instead, she’s stomping her feet and quitting mid-term like a petulant brat.
[Side note, as I was writing this, Representative Troy Nehls (R-Texas) has announced that he will not be seeking reelection. He is another Congressman who got into office via the 2020 election and has portrayed himself as a staunch supporter of Trump and Trump’s agenda. While his announcement was certainly less bombastic than MTG’s (in fact, he doesn’t give a real reason aside from the generic “spending more time with my family” excuse), the timing is interesting and seems to confirm the rumors that more House members would be resigning in the wake of MTG’s announcement. I, admittedly, don’t know much about Nehls, so I won’t be commenting much on him, but I did think it was notable. Also, in a bizarre twist, his twin brother immediately announced that he will be running for Nehls’ seat. Do with that what you will.]
In the days following the 2024 election, President Trump nominated Representative Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Gaetz quickly announced his resignation from Congress, which was odd, as the confirmation process had not even begun. To contrast, Senator Marco Rubio, who seemed much more of a shoo-in for Secretary of State than Gaetz was for AG, did not resign from the Senate until January 20th, 2025, the same day the Senate voted to confirm him as SoS. When Gaetz resigned so quickly, my first thought was, “Wow, are they that confident that they have this confirmation in the bag?” I mean, why else would someone resign so quickly when his new position hadn’t even been solidified yet?
Just over a week later, Gaetz had stepped aside. We are meant to believe that this was because of leaks coming out regarding a House Ethics investigation and report that he was the focus of. He said he didn’t want that to be a “distraction.” But this doesn’t really make any sense.
This wasn’t a new investigation; Trump, Gaetz, and any number of advisors had to have known about it and likely knew (or at least highly suspected) the contents of it (regardless of whether or not those contents are true). Leaking bits and pieces of reports or investigations is a known tactic in DC to stymie political opponents, and it had been used against Trump many times, so they had to have seen that coming as well. Even without the controversy of this report, Gaetz was already an unpopular figure with the U.S. Senate. There was no real reason to think his confirmation would go smoothly, much less be a guarantee. And yet, Gaetz resigned from the House immediately.
Gaetz is a relative newcomer to Congress, entering the U.S. House of Representatives via the 2016 elections. Before that, he had been serving in the Florida House since 2010, making him a lifelong politician, albeit a relatively young one. As far as I am aware, he has always been a supporter of Trump and has worked with Trump to further the MAGA agenda. I won’t pretend I always liked Gaetz and his antics, but I would be hard-pressed to say I didn’t see that he was playing a role in Trump’s agenda. More often than not, that role may have been Rodeo Clown, but it was a role nonetheless. But, as I said, Gaetz is (or was) a lifelong politician, and from a line of politicians, at that. Call me a cynic, but that seems like a recipe for compromise if not outright corruption.
The House Ethics Committee report alleged that Gaetz participated in “prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” Now, I doubt everything in this report, especially the most salacious and illegal bits, is true. Not because I am some big fan of Gaetz and think he must be defended at all costs, but because the DOJ investigated Gaetz and dropped the case in 2023, during the Biden administration. If there had been any solid evidence that Gaetz had done something illegal, I highly doubt the Biden administration would have passed on the opportunity to collect such a high-profile MAGA scalp. That being said, I also don’t think Gaetz is pure as the driven snow.
For his part, Gaetz did admit to sending funds to women, both women whom he dated and did not date, and said that he “probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life.” As Gaetz himself notes, none of this is criminal, but that doesn’t mean it is not a bit concerning. When he says “earlier in life,” he isn’t talking about partying in college, he’s talking about his 30s, when he was well into his political career and serving in office. At the very least, it seems unwise to live that sort of lifestyle when you’re in such a high position of power and influence. That sort of lifestyle makes you ripe for doing (and being caught doing) something that may compromise you. And a man sending money to women with whom he is not in a romantic relationship or who are not family members is a bit weird. Not illegal, but something that, at the very least, gives the appearance of impropriety.
To top off the strangeness of the whole Gaetz Attorney General saga, Gaetz didn’t need to make that statement; he didn’t need to admit to anything. He posted this on December 18, 2024, weeks after he had resigned from Congress and stepped aside as nominee for Attorney General. Yes, he seems to have been trying to get ahead of the release of the ethics report, but to what purpose? He wasn’t trying to salvage his chance to become Attorney General, because he had already passed on that. He could have just let the report come out and either ignored it or issued a vaguely worded denial and then let the whole thing blow over.
So what happened? And what does any of this have to do with Marjorie Taylor Greene? Strap in, folks, as I attempt to weave this all together.
One of Trump’s defining promises was to drain the Swamp, but how exactly can he do that when the entire political structure is filled with entrenched, compromised, and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats? How can he do that when everything (including the election system) is rigged against him, and more importantly, against us, the People? Well, he does what he does best, what he’s known for, what he built his personal brand on: he makes deals.
When we think of compromise and corruption in the government, the big things come to mind. We think of the things that are illegal, maybe even to the point of treason. But you don’t have to do something illegal or treasonous to become compromised; you just have to do something that you're ashamed of. Something you don’t want to get out into the public or maybe don’t want your spouse or family to find out about. Something that somebody can blackmail you with. I’m reminded of a lyric from NEEDTOBREATHE’s song Money and Fame:
You never know until you’re offered it
But everybody’s got a price, I guess
It’s even lower than you think it is
At this point, I doubt anyone in Congress is uncompromised, but that doesn’t mean they’re all Hillary Clintons with bathroom servers. There may be people who have just done something they are ashamed of, and that thing can be, and is, held against them by nefarious actors.
I doubt that Gaetz's version of his story is the whole truth, but I also believe that the House Ethics Report may be largely exaggerated or even outright fabricated. My guess is that the truth of Gaetz’s past is somewhere between those two stories. I suspect that he did something to compromise himself, and I suspect that Trump knows what that something is. I speculate that Trump, the Deal Maker, who is trying to drain a Swamp full of corrupt creatures that don’t easily let in outsiders, made a deal with Gaetz, the legacy and career politician. Something along the lines of, “You may not be the dirtiest Creature in the Swamp, but you are too compromised to stay in office long term, so play ball, back the MAGA agenda, and then when the time is right, you will be allowed to resign with minimal egg on your face.”
If I am right, then this is why we saw this bizarre Attorney General nomination that led to Gaetz resigning from Congress while also not ending up as Attorney General, or in the government at all. And it would also explain why he made a statement, admitting to some level of impropriety, when he didn’t really have to.
I wonder if Marjorie Taylor Greene was offered a similar deal, but turned it down, backed out of it, or failed a test. Like Matt Gaetz, MTG certainly seemed to be not just riding the coattails of America First, but to be actively working with Trump to further that agenda. Who else remembers the McCarthy House Speaker vote and the photo of MTG handing off a phone that appeared to have Trump on the line? Moments like these had many of us convinced that MTG was working hand in hand with Trump. And perhaps we were correct about that, but after Trump got back in the White House, MTG seemed to shift. First subtly and then not so subtly, she began turning on Trump, undermining him and (more importantly) the MAGA agenda. Why?
Trump says that MTG “went bad” when he stopped taking her calls. Was that a test to see if she was truly America First, even when she wasn’t getting special treatment from the President? Did she fail that test, throwing a temper tantrum the moment she was no longer being treated as important? Or did he stop taking her calls because he already knew she was turning? Was she a sort of sleeper agent all along, meant to turn on and divide MAGA the moment it got back into power? Trump calls her a traitor, so maybe there is a hint there. After all, you can’t betray ideals you never truly held to begin with. Perhaps she began as an earnest fighter for MAGA, but was corrupted by her time in DC.
We’ll probably never know the real answer as to exactly when and why MTG turned, but turn she did. She got a bit too big for her britches, perhaps thinking she was untouchable. So now, rather than getting to step down with some dignity intact, like Gaetz or perhaps even Representative Nehls, she gets to be humiliated and disgraced. Oh sure, she still has fans who will defend her, but sooner or later, they will move on, and her legacy will be nothing more than that of a blowhard who never actually accomplished anything.
The timing of all this is certainly interesting. Why get these people out of office now, rather than earlier or later? I have some developing thoughts on that, but I don’t care to speculate at this point. That being said, it will be interesting to see if other “America First” politicians are shown the door in the near future.
Trump promised to drain the Swamp. The whole Swamp. Not just the parts we know about. Not just the Democrats and old school RINOs. Every Swamp Creature must go, even the ones we like. Even the ones we think aren’t that dangerous. But though they must go, that doesn’t mean that Trump can’t use some of them, in the service of the MAGA agenda, before sending them on their merry, or not so merry, way.