Former Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed that New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler secretly “hates” President Donald Trump and mocked him behind his back.
Greene, still an influential voice among conservatives despite retiring from Congress in January, appeared on The Tucker Carlson Show Wednesday to discuss members of their party she believed had betrayed its values and sold out to “the establishment donor class.”
She cited Rep. Lawler as an example of a “bought and paid for” politician and said of him: “He hated Donald Trump, made fun of him constantly, mimicked him, making fun of his voice.
“He used to attack me, make fun of me, come and find me on the House floor, and make fun of me for supporting Donald Trump, and this was in the four years before Trump got elected as president again in 2024,” she added.
“And I was just like this guy is literally one of the worst – well, I would say he’s the worst, but really [Florida GOP Rep.] Randy Fine is the worst.
“But Mike Lawler was unbelievably… I thought he was a Democrat. I was like, he’s literally a Democrat. He’s so against all the things that Republican voters care about, and he clearly hates Donald Trump.”
She went on to claim that the congressman’s attitude towards the president changed significantly after Trump won the Republican primary in 2024.
“I saw this unbelievable change in him,” Greene said. “All of a sudden, Mike Lawler, I started joking. I started calling him MAGA Mike Lawler because he was all of a sudden becoming Trump’s biggest supporter.”
Responding, a spokesman for Rep. Lawler told The Independent: “Marjorie Taylor Greene, AKA Jewish Space Laser Lady, AKA Moscow Marge, AKA one of the dumbest people to ever serve in Congress, has zero credibility on any issue. Unlike Marjorie, who went from sycophant to psychopath in the span of five years, I’ve always been true to who I am and what I believe.
“I voted for the president three times, was a delegate in 2016, and have worked with the president to deliver results for my district, including lifting the cap on SALT. When I agree with the president, I say it. When I disagree with the president, I say it. I will always represent my district and do what I think is right for our country. Marjorie can go sit and spin, as she goes down in history as one of the least liked and most ignorant members to ever serve.”
The congressman also attacked Carlson on X, calling him “a moron” and commenting: “The grifters are truly dumbing down America with one nonsensical argument after the next.“
Both Greene and Carlson have turned against Trump over the last year, with the former breaking with him over his focus on foreign commitments and the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the latter over the Iran war.
Greene has recently claimed the president has “gone insane,” stirred up conspiracy theories over whether or not the assassination attempt on him in Butler, Pennsylvania, two years ago might have been staged, and claimed Trump showed “no compassion” when death threats were made against her family.
Recent episodes of Carlson’s show have meanwhile found the host apologizing for campaigning on the president’s behalf in 2024, calling Trump “a slave who can’t make his own decisions,” and urging his administration to sever ties with Israel.
On Wednesday, the former Fox News anchor addressed the president directly and chastised him for not doing enough to improve conditions domestically, saying: “You have not done a good job running this country. You don’t even care to try. You’d rather run the world or the empire.
“You don’t want to improve Baltimore. You don’t care about Gary, Indiana. Rural America makes you sick. Normal leaders would ask themselves, ‘Why are people mad? What are they dissatisfied with? How can I help them? They’re clearly in pain.’”
His criticism came on the same day that a new poll found that Trump’s approval rating has dipped to a new low, with just 34 per cent of Americans applauding his performance in office amid widespread concern that his conflict in the Middle East is only exacerbating the affordability crisis he was elected to resolve.
