'Asking for trouble': Ex-speaker’s aide tells Republicans to stop being scared of MTG
Republicans appear to be scared of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a former aide to two House Speakers told MSNBC Tuesday — but they shouldn't be.
Brendan Buck served under Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner, and witnessed each dealing with the far-right flank of the party attempting to top the party leadership. Now that Greene is threatening to vacate the speaker's chair, Buck is urging members of the party not to fear her.
"It might literally be just that simple," Buck said as he spoke about Republicans standing up to Greene.
Read Also: GOP Senators back away from MTG's 'ridiculous' speaker threat
Greene sent out a letter on Tuesday blasting the House Speaker Mike Johnson for siding with the Democrats to pass funding for Ukraine.
"I will not tolerate our elected Republican Speaker Mike Johnson (LA) serving the Democrats and the Biden administration and helping them achieve their policies that are destroying our country," she wrote.
"He is throwing our razor-thin majority into chaos by not serving his own GOP conference that elected him."
"With so much at stake for our future and the future of our children, I will not tolerate this type of 'leadership,'" Greene also said. "This has been a complete and total surrender to, if not complete and total lockstep with, the Democrats' agenda that has angered our Republican base so much and given them very little reason to vote for a Republican House majority."
Republicans initially worked to establish a compromise where Republicans would agree to funding for Ukraine if Democrats conceded to the most conservative immigration bill in history. Democrats agreed to the measure and it was passed by the Senate. Then Trump killed it, telling lawmakers they can't give President Joe Biden the "win."
Now funding for Ukraine and Israel has been on hold. Given what happened with Trump, no one appears willing to find something to negotiate.
"I've always thought her threat was about Ukraine, and in this letter, she makes it clear that's what this is all about," said Buck. "To a surprising degree to me, Mike Johnson has been leaning into this idea for weeks now that the next agenda item in the House is aid to Ukraine. For a long time, he was pretty hard to nail down where he stood on this, but he's made clear he thinks it's the right thing to do, and she represents the isolationist part of the Republican Party. The Trump part of the party now."
It means that to pass the law, Johnson needs to beg Democrats for help, which would give them the "win" Trump was demanding wouldn't happen.
"So, his choice is whether he does what he thinks is the right thing, sending money to Ukraine and hoping that Democrats will be there and Marjorie Taylor Greene does this," Buck explained. "Or, walking away and hoping she keeps this threat in her back pocket. I don't know if you can count on that if you're Speaker Johnson."
Host Yasmin Vossoughian explained she doesn't think that Greene is bluffing because it only takes one member to start a motion to vacate.
"It's one of those things where it's really easy to be against Ukraine aid or be skeptical of it. He was for a long long time. It's easy when you're just a rank-and-file member of the House. When you're a speaker of the House, you realize — you understand that the weight of this conflict is, in some ways, on your shoulders," said Buck.
He went on to say that his view has always been to do what was right.
"Make law. Send money to Ukraine if you know that's the right thing to do and the politics will probably work out for you in the long run if that's the case," said Buck.
"Now, if you try to be too cute about this and try to appease Marjorie Taylor Greene and hope the Democrats will stick around to back you, I think you're just asking for trouble."
See the full conversation below or at the link here.
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