In late 2021, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene briefly referenced “a National Divorce scenario” that seemed to allude to the dissolution of the United States. About a year later, the Georgia Republican seemed to predict a “national divorce” in response to the CDC adding Covid shots to its list of recommended vaccine schedules.
This morning, as some elected officials released statements recognizing the Presidents’ Day holiday, the right-wing congresswoman published a message to Twitter that steered clear of traditional American patriotism. ..
At face value, this isn’t especially surprising. Greene has earned a reputation as one of the most radical members of Congress in recent memory. She’s expressed support for violence against Democratic elected officials, and a year ago, the Georgia Republican appeared at a white-nationalist event. The fact that the congresswoman has endorsed a vision in which Americans “separate by red states and blue states” is entirely in line with everything we know about her.
But let’s not lose sight of the larger context: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and GOP leaders recently rewarded Greene with committee assignments, including a slot on the House Homeland Security Committee. Are Republicans prepared to defend a member of the House Homeland Security Committee openly endorsing the dissolution of the United States?
That’s not a rhetorical question. GOP leaders should let the public know whether they’re comfortable with such a dynamic — and what they’re prepared to do in response if they’re not comfortable with such a dynamic.
Indeed, that’s ultimately what matters most in response to so many of the controversies Greene creates. Her extremism is routine to the point that’s become background noise. Basic American patriotism generally prevents elected officials from endorsing the dissolution of the United States, but we’ve reached the point in our collective history at which members of Congress can publish such messages — which would’ve sparked a genuine scandal in the not-too-distant past — and much of the political world shrugs, seeing it as somehow routine.
With this in mind, it seems as if the focus should be on McCarthy. Her extremism has become predictable, but his responses to her radical vision are still relevant. How comfortable is the House speaker with one of his prominent allies calling for the breaking up of our country? What is he prepared to do about it? Can we feel confident in the work of the House Homeland Security Committee knowing that Greene is on it — and she no longer wants to live in the same nation as many Americans?
“I will never leave that woman,” McCarthy reportedly told a friend, referring to Greene, after his hard-fought struggle to win the speaker’s gavel. “I will always take care of her.”
Does that sentiment have a limit?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News’ Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot, McCarthy sources tell me.
Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin digging through the trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds. Excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: Carlson has repeatedly questioned official accounts of 1/6, downplaying the insurrection as “vandalism.”
Now his shows — “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News, and “Tucker Carlson Today” and “Tucker Carlson Originals” on the streaming service Fox Nation — have a massive trove of raw material.
Carlson told me: “[T]here was never any legitimate reason for this footage to remain secret.”
“If there was ever a question that’s in the public’s interest to know, it’s what actually happened on January 6. By definition, this video will reveal it. It’s impossible for me to understand why any honest person would be bothered by that.”
Reality check: The Jan. 6 committee played numerous excerpts of the footage at last year’s captivating hearings. (See the committee’s archive.)
Between the lines: The process with Carlson started in early February, according to a communication between the show and a McCarthy representative that I was shown.
The archive was previously reported to be 14,000 hours. I’m told it’s now much more.
Flashback: McCarthy told reporters in Statuary Hall last month that he thinks “the American public should actually see all [that] happened instead of a report that’s written [on] a political basis.”
Pushing for the release of the footage, Carlson argued on his show last month that Washington has “a regime of secrecy and deceit.”
Carlson last year called the attack an “outbreak of mob violence, a forgettably minor outbreak by recent standards.”
McCarthy is doing this just days after it was revealed that Tucker Carlson and Fox news lied repeatedly about the 2020 election, knowing full well that Trump didn’t win the election, it wasn’t stolen and all the lawyers who were insisting he did were nuttier than 10 year old fruitcakes.
I don’t know why but I find this more disturbing than anything I’ve seen recently. McCarthy is the Speaker of the House and he’s exclusively releasing footage of J6 to … Tucker Carlson? Has he really gone that far down the rabbit hole? This feels like an escalation in the crazy to me and that’s saying something. I can’t imagine any previous Speaker doing something like this.