Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a “Democrat” and suggested that he is being “blackmailed” due to a shift in his stance on Ukraine aid.
On Sunday, Johnson suggested in a Fox News interview that a vote on additional aid to Ukraine could take place in the House as soon as Republicans return from recess on April 9.
Greene told ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson that Johnson’s sudden shift in policy on Ukraine may be because he’s being “blackmailed.”
“Mike Johnson has made a complete departure of who he is, and what he stands for, and to the point where people are literally asking, is he blackmailed? What is wrong with him because he’s completely disconnected with what we want?” Greene said.
“He completely changed who he was, funded the FBI, gave them a brand new building, fully funded the Department of Justice that is persecuting everyone on the right and actually targeting a presidential candidate for election this year. Literally trying to put him in jail the rest of his life,” Greene added. “We don’t know who Mike Johnson is anymore. So I can’t comprehend it.”
In a separate interview with CNN, Greene continued to criticize Johnson over the provisions in the government funding bill and called him a “Democrat.”
“People are fed up with Republicans that say one thing and turn around and literally join the flock and just continue the same old crap everybody’s tired of,” Greene said. “And here, Mike Johnson, he’s literally turned into Mitch McConnell’s twin and worse. He’s a Democrat.”
“There’s not even any daylight between him and [Former Speaker] Nancy Pelosi at this point,” she added.
Greene filed a motion to vacate Johnson after the House passed the $1.2 trillion spending bill. She said the motion was a warning and didn’t give a specific timeline for a vote to remove the speaker.
Greene has been accused of trying to throw the House into more chaos which could result in other Republican lawmakers leaving Congress early further shrinking the GOP House majority and electing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as speaker.
