Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene issued a warning to the MAGA base she was once part of, arguing that their response to the release of the Epstein files could cost the Republican Party in the midterms.
“All of you MAGA influencers and the rest mocking the seriousness of women who were trafficked and raped as teenagers and young women look like cult fools,” said Greene Sunday. “Good luck trying to get women to vote for Republicans in the midterms, you insensitive clowns.”
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Greene did not specify any individuals she was referring to within the MAGA base, nor did she provide an example of the alleged “mocking.”
The former Georgia Representative—who was a staunch Republican ally of President Donald Trump until a public fallout last year, spurred on by a disagreement over the release of the Epstein files— added that “the Republican Party already has a woman voting problem.”
In the 2024 Presidential election, 46% of women voted Republican, compared to 53% who voted Democrat, up by 2% in Republican votes from the 2020 election, according to the Pew Research Center. While not a direct reflection of voting intention, a YouGov poll conducted between Feb. 6-9 found that 32% of U.S. women approve of the way Trump is handling his job as President, compared to 39% from the same time last year.
Greene’s social media statement followed similar remarks she made during an appearance on the Home of the Brave podcast, released late Friday. In the sit-down, Greene revisited how she clashed with Trump last year when she, along with fellow Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, joined forces with the Democrats in advocating for the Department of Justice to release all files relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“If you want to win the midterms, why don’t you stop calling all of us names and accusing us of horrible, ridiculous things, and stop being a bully,” said Greene, arguing that many within the Make America Great Again (MAGA) sphere had directed abuse, including death threats, at her for pushing for the publication of the files.
“Look at what the [political] right has become, and it’s become this way because the leader of our movement bullies people, and we need to be honest about that,” she added, accusing Trump directly.
Detailing the public fallout following her split from the President—who called her a “traitor” and “disgrace” to the Republican Party—Greene said she told senior Trump Administration figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance, FBI director Kash Patel, and Trump himself, about death threats made towards herself and her son in the wake of the row.
“It was President Trump’s replies that were shocking and extremely hurtful. He basically blamed me,” she claimed, adding that it was also “shocking” to be labelled a traitor by Trump.
“And it wasn’t a traitor to the country. He meant a traitor to him,” she argued.
Greene spoke of Trump’s pivot to signing a bill in November that ordered the Justice Department to release the documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, despite him having previously dismissed the matter as a “Democrat hoax.”
“He [Trump] fought the hardest to stop these files from being released, and the only reason that he signed our bill that we passed in the House was because he had to. It became a massive political problem,” Greene said, arguing that the “biggest political miscalculation in Donald Trump’s career was calling this a hoax and fighting the release of it.”
TIME has contacted the White House for comment.
While the fallout over calls to release the Epstein files ended Greene and Trump’s former alliance in a significant way, it wasn’t the only cause of the rift between them.
Greene, who was previously famed for wearing her MAGA hat and campaigned for Trump to return to the White House, notably strayed from the President on a number of high-profile issues last year, publicly opposing—or distancing herself from—some of his core tenets.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, Greene hit out at the Justice Department, questioning why her name was included in a letter posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi that listed high-profile figures mentioned in the Epstein files. (Appearing in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing.)
The individuals mentioned in the letter include people who “are or were a government official or politically exposed person” and are referenced in the files at least once. It ranges from people who shared contact with Epstein and his associates to people mentioned in news articles referenced in the files. The letter also included deceased celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Kurt Cobain, who were simply mentioned in correspondence.
“Why are stories about my refusal to comply with Covid tyranny and other news stories unrelated to Epstein about me listed in the Epstein files? What kind of files are the FBI and DOJ keeping on us?” questioned Greene.
The former Congresswoman’s name comes up in various files released by the Justice Department, all of which appear to be as part of news bulletins shared amongst the FBI. One email, an FBI daily news briefing from November 2025, includes a headline on the fallout between Greene and the President. It also includes an article on the release of the Epstein files.
Another daily news briefing on public affairs includes an article headline detailing Greene’s criticism of Covid policy at the Capitol amid the pandemic in November 2020. This briefing also includes a headline on an FBI arrest warrant for Epstein that was issued in 2008.
Greene is among several lawmakers to have criticized Bondi, who says all of the Epstein files have now been released.
During an appearance on ABC News’ This Week on Sunday, Rep. Massie disputed this, arguing that crucial documents are still awaiting release.
“The problem with that is the bill that Ro Khanna (the Democratic Representative of California) and I wrote says that they must release internal memos and notes and emails about their decisions on whether to prosecute or not prosecute, whether to investigate or not investigate,” he said.
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