GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stood defiant in her first interview since announcing her resignation from Congress, making clear she’s not afraid to speak out on the issues that made President Donald Trump “furious” with her, including her support for releasing all files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“He was extremely angry at me that I had signed the discharge petition to release the files,” Greene said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday evening. She said her concerns lie with survivors of the convicted sex offender’s abuse, who she said are “asking for all of it to come out.”
“They deserve it. And he was furious with me,” she said.
In an announcement last month that shocked many in Washington and in her district, the Georgia Republican said she would resign from her seat early next year amid a feud with her longtime ally. Trump had called her a “traitor” and vowed to back a GOP challenge to her House seat in the primary election.
The president warned her that making all of the Justice Department’s information on Epstein’s case public was “going to hurt people,” said Greene, who was one of four Republicans to sign on to the petition to force the transparency bill to the floor.
Though her position on the Epstein files brought her public falling-out with Trump to a head, she has also notably broken with her party’s leaders recently on several issues, including health care reform, relations with Israel and the House’s absence during the 43-day government shutdown.
Greene suspects many of her GOP colleagues’ unshakeable loyalty to Trump comes largely out of a fear of defying him.
“I think they’re terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them,” she told CBS’ Lesley Stahl, referring to the president’s social media platform where he has launched vicious attacks against her.
While most Republican lawmakers hesitate to publicly criticize Trump, Greene insisted what they say behind closed doors “would shock people.”
“I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024, they all started, excuse my language, Lesley, kissing his a** and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time,” she continued.
Greene said in a post on X on Sunday that her office has reported 773 death threats made to her office to Capitol Police since she took office in 2021. That number, she said, does not include online threats to her and her family, as well as swatting incidents and other tactics.
She claimed many of the threats previously came from those on the political left, but since her falling-out with Trump, they’re coming from the right.
“I got a pipe bomb thrown at my house, and several direct death threats on my son,” she said on “60 Minutes.” “The subject line for the death threat on my son was exactly what Trump said, ‘Marjorie Traitor Greene.’”
Greene also said once she retires from Congress, she’s done running for office.
“I have zero plans, zero desire to run for president. I would hate the Senate. I’m not running for governor. I’m not one of those politicians with a long list of political plans,” Greene said.