The only thing worse than being wrong in Washington is being ignored. And with their behavior this week, Georgia U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Collins are in danger of being both.
Greene made her long-threatened run at Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and missed badly, getting just 10 fellow Republicans to go along with her. Altogether, Greene lost by more than 300 votes and only solidified the power of the speaker she was trying to depose.
Collins, meanwhile, returned to his recurring and, in theory, more easily solved social media problem. He posted a video late last week taken at the University of Mississippi, in which a Black female student is taunted and harassed by what looks to be hundreds of young white men. One young man dances and makes monkey noises at her before the crowd chants “Lock her up!” Collins’ caption for the video: “Ole Miss taking care of business.”
It’s not apparent in the video that the Black woman was one of about 30 pro-Palestinian protesters, which seemed to be the reason Collins shared it. But what would possess a man to enjoy the disturbing visual so much that he would share it far and wide? And how does he not have better things to do as an elected official paid with public funds?
After an immediate backlash, Collins issued an apology of sorts, saying, “I recognize that there certainly seems to be some potentially inappropriate behavior that none of us should seek to glorify.”
The chancellor at Ole Miss didn’t have to qualify the behavior as “potentially” anything. The chancellor called it “offensive, hurtful and unacceptable,” which it was.
But days after his apology, Collins was back on social media, this time joking about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a news account that he had contracted a parasite years ago that resulted in brain damage.
“You either die a Kennedy with a hole in the brain or live long enough to become a Kennedy with a hole in the brain,” Collins wrote.
As the son of a congressman himself, Collins must know better. So we’re left to wonder whether he lacks the self-control not to post insulting, inappropriate messages or simply the judgment to know he should probably leave the posting to his staff from now on.
The week was far worse for Greene, who started with her now-familiar threat to toss Johnson from the speaker’s chair without suggesting who might take his place. Greene also had no plan for how to avoid the three weeks of televised chaos that Republicans caused themselves last fall after they booted Kevin McCarthy from the job.
Among the transgressions she listed Wednesday in her motion to oust Johnson was a recent spending bill that funded the Department of Justice even though it is continuing to investigate and prosecute the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Another offense: Johnson working with Senate Democrats to negotiate legislation, even though that’s the job of a Republican speaker in a divided government.
As Greene read from her text, a storm of boos rained down from her fellow Republicans. But even worse for her purposes were the Democrats who mostly ignored her and laughed among themselves as she spoke. She stopped several times to wait for Democrats to quiet down, but they rarely did. She was clearly no threat to them anymore.
Republicans, on the other hand, were unwound.
“You’re not the Republican Party!” Rep. Carlos Jimenez, a Republican from Florida, shouted at Greene on the steps of the Capitol after the failed vote.
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, told Politico he thought Greene had lost support in her own district over the fiasco.
“People are calling me saying: ‘Please, tell her to not do this.’ Mike is a good man. He’s doing the best he can,” he said. “Trump’s calling her and telling her not to.”
Former President Donald Trump, who is Greene’s most important ally, told her not to move forward several times. Between court sessions Thursday he posted to social media that “now is not the time” to oust Johnson.
“If we show DISUNITY, it will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything!” he wrote.
When Trump is urging caution, you know you’ve gone too far.
Meanwhile, Johnson was suddenly left looking statesmanlike and in charge. “Hopefully this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress,” he said after he won the vote.
But if we know Greene, it’s not the end of anything. In fact, after the dust settled Thursday, she told The New York Times: “I’m thrilled with the whole thing. Even the booing from both sides — I fully expected it.”
If Greene achieved anything this week, she managed to give Democrats and Republicans something to agree about. Every member of the Georgia delegation, except Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, voted to table her motion to oust Johnson, even Collins.
The leader she targeted came out better than ever, while Greene only showed she didn’t have the power to take him out. Not even close.
The Georgians who elected Greene and Collins and pay their salaries deserve better than what they got this week — two members who seemed more interested in their own agendas and social media followings than the needs in their districts.
Collins should be able to easily put his phone away and post less. But Greene’s path to redemption — and relevance in Congress — is harder to see.
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