Things got more than a little tense last week when U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene let loose on a reporter during a phone interview, later sharing the whole heated exchange on social media for all to see. On Fox News’ Media Buzz, host Howard Kurtz raised eyebrows by asking whether Greene might have come across as “a little defensive” in the now-viral clip.
Leslie Marshall, a liberal radio host and guest on the programme, couldn’t stop laughing at the suggestion. “Sorry, a little? You know, I mean, between our president and this one and everybody just dropping f-bombs even on national television, I gotta tell you, Howie, it’s really hard to keep people, especially kids, in check when our leaders can’t be,” she said. Marshall went on to say that with leaders publicly ranting that they “don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” it might be time to restore some basic “decency, decorum, respect.”
At the centre of the storm was Greene’s response to President Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Iran, a move that’s split parts of his MAGA base. Greene, usually one of Trump’s most loyal backers in Congress, has taken a surprisingly strong stance against what she sees as dragging the country into yet “another foreign war.” That difference of opinion was the key focus of the journalist’s interview, reported the Daily Beast.
The reporter asked plainly, “For a long time, you’ve been Trump’s most outspoken ally in Congress. It feels like over the past couple weeks you’ve shown a willingness to break with him, and I’m wondering just what’s behind that?”
Greene didn’t take kindly to the question. “I have always been President Trump’s most outspoken ally,” she responded, before going full Trump-style and swearing at the journalist mid-interview.
“I just want you to know how I am perceiving your interview here is more of an attack piece on me,” she said. “And I don’t know who is putting you up to it, and I don’t know why you’re writing it, but I think it’s absolute bulls–t and I’m going to completely reject it.”
She didn’t stop there. “I don’t have to answer any more of your questions because I am sick and tired of your narrative and I’m calling it out as complete and total bulls–t,” she added before abruptly hanging up with a firm, “So we’re done—no we’re done.”
Not long after, Greene uploaded the entire exchange on X (formerly Twitter), claiming she had “just ripped a reporter for his attempt to smear me, lie about me, and push a fake narrative that I don’t support President Trump.”
Marshall criticised Greene’s aggressive approach, saying, “You can disagree with somebody, even somebody asking hard questions, and not swear and not yell and not hang up on them.”
She also noted Greene’s inconsistency, pointing out the congresswoman has “flip-flopped and waffled” between backing Trump and aligning with other conservatives like Rand Paul.
Greene’s hostility toward the press is nothing new. She’s previously lashed out at a British reporter and even accused beloved children’s characters like Elmo and his Sesame Street pals of being part of a leftist plot.
Right-wing commentator Caroline Downey wasn’t impressed either. She admitted she’s “not a huge fan of all these new trends of filming yourself in public with reporters” and argued that Greene may have misunderstood Trump’s reasoning.
“Trump has always been consistent that America-first is not compatible with a nuclear Iran,” Downey told Kurtz. “He is just the only one of all the presidents in the past to address it.”