Marjorie Taylor Greene: 'Very Big Divide In The MAGA Base' After Trump Launched Strikes On Iran

Forbes Breaking News

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks to CNN's Manu Raju about the strikes on Iran.

Transcript

00:00I'm a little busy for us all.

00:01Yes, for us all.

00:03Yeah.

00:03You all framed up, Eddie?

00:05Anytime.

00:06Okay.

00:06Well, thanks for talking to me.

00:08I saw your post on X.

00:10You're obviously very concerned about the action the president authorized against Iran.

00:14And you say it does not, it's not consistent with the MAGA agenda.

00:18Why?

00:19Well, I got elected on the exact same campaign promises that President Trump got elected on.

00:24We promised no more foreign wars, no more regime change.

00:27We promised an America First agenda where we're solving Americans' problems

00:32and trying to claw our way out of this $37 trillion debt.

00:38You know, most Americans right now, they care about maybe next weekend's concert,

00:43a vacation they plan for the summer.

00:45I know my kids' generation who are 22, 25, and 27,

00:49this is a generation who it looks very bleak for the future.

00:54They can't afford houses.

00:56They can't afford insurance.

00:58They can't find good-paying jobs.

01:00They can't afford to buy a car.

01:02And groceries cost too much money.

01:05Going out to eat costs too much money.

01:07And this is a situation that has me most concerned.

01:11And that's where my focus lies.

01:13But that's also the same focus of President Trump, and that's what we promised.

01:17My district voted for me on those promises.

01:20They also voted for President Trump on those promises.

01:22And I've been very vocal.

01:25We don't belong in foreign wars.

01:27This is not our war.

01:28And it's perfectly okay for me to say that.

01:31And I've also stated this.

01:33It's okay to have our own opinions.

01:35It's okay to disagree on policy.

01:38That's what Americans do.

01:39And that's what Republicans do.

01:41The President said he would not get engaged in foreign wars.

01:45He said he would end foreign wars with his campaigning.

01:48Was this move, did it break his campaign promise?

01:51I don't think so.

01:52As a matter of fact, I think what we just saw develop today, where Iran had a response,

01:59an attack on the base in Qatar, I think.

02:02And we saw President Trump's measured response and his message on Truth Social is exactly

02:08the same messaging that we elected him for.

02:11He wants peace.

02:12He wants us to end.

02:13And he's going to urge Israel that it's time to end.

02:16And it absolutely is time to end.

02:19All the wars need to end.

02:20What's happening in Gaza needs to end.

02:22The attack on Iran needs to end.

02:24The war between Ukraine and Russia needs to end.

02:27And these, all of these conflicts around the world need to end because the only people

02:31they hurt are the people in those countries.

02:34And it also hurts the ability for great countries to have great trade deals.

02:38And that has an effect on Americans as well.

02:41When you hear Republicans, including in the White House, say that this needed to be done

02:44to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, because that could threaten America.

02:49What do you say to them when they're warning that if you guys didn't act, if the U.S.

02:53didn't act now, it would lead to more danger to Americans?

02:56Well, I have to preface with first, I haven't, we haven't had a classified briefing yet.

03:00We're supposed to get one tomorrow.

03:02And I haven't, I haven't been in a skiff and seen the information.

03:07But I will say this, we have been told these things over and over and over again for decades.

03:13We were told there was weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and there wasn't.

03:17And thousands of Americans were killed there.

03:20And thousands of Iraqis were killed.

03:22Many people were killed.

03:23We have people suffering today with terrible PTSD and lifelong injuries from these wars

03:29that we should have never gotten involved in.

03:32They were pointless.

03:33And so many Americans are very wary when all of a sudden the news comes on and they, and

03:39it starts saying why we're attacking a country.

03:41When most Americans are walking around, they're not thinking about Iran.

03:45They're not worried about a Houthi, and they don't even know what a Houthi looks like.

03:49They're not worried about what Russia is doing.

03:51They're very much focused on their American life and their American problems.

03:56And that's exactly what they, they should be focused on.

03:59And I think it's important to have this dialogue.

04:02It's critically important.

04:04We're $37 trillion in debt.

04:06And we have a lot of problems to fix.

04:08And that's, that's what I want to focus on.

04:10So it sounds like you're pretty skeptical about the claim that the U.S. was facing an imminent threat.

04:16Again, I haven't, we haven't had the classified briefing yet.

04:20Should there have been a vote in Congress before Trump took this action?

04:23There wasn't a vote for Barack Obama before he bombed Libya and Syria and Iraq.

04:29There wasn't a vote for President Bush's mini-bombings and major war front.

04:36So, no, the president, by law, can lead.

04:40He's the commander-in-chief.

04:41So you're okay, you're fine with Congress not voting here?

04:44I think, you know, constitutionally, after 60 days, it is something Congress needs to look at.

04:50But let's be realistic.

04:51Congress isn't very good at doing very many things, Manu, and that's the truth.

04:55So, and here we are, we're fighting over certain parts of the big, beautiful bill

05:00and trying to get an appropriations budget passed.

05:06So I don't know what a vote would look like here in Congress.

05:08I think President Trump is the leader.

05:11He is the president.

05:12He's the commander-in-chief, and I support him.

05:14And just big picture, do you think this alienates the MAGA base at all?

05:20You speak to the MAGA base a lot.

05:22You are part of the MAGA base.

05:24Yes.

05:24Does this move alienate the MAGA base?

05:28I think what you're seeing is a very big divide in the MAGA base.

05:33And I think that's also something important to talk about.

05:35And I think it's generational.

05:38You know, my parents' generation are baby boomers.

05:40The baby boomers get their news, and they get it on television.

05:44My generation, I'm Generation X, and millennials, and my kids' generation in their 20s,

05:48they get their news mostly on the Internet from blogs, videos, and so forth.

05:53They also do a lot of research.

05:55They're skeptical.

05:56I'm skeptical, too, of just believing whatever I see on television.

06:01And Americans feel that way.

06:03We've been lied to too many times.

06:05And I think it's right to be skeptical.

06:07But I think you're seeing a major divide in Republican voters.

06:11Now, I'll argue that my position would become more popular.

06:15I was one of the first people that was completely against the Ukraine-Russia war.

06:21I refused to fund any of it.

06:23I voted no to all of that.

06:24I was in the very, very tiny minority in the beginning.

06:28And now my voice, my opinion, and what I said about that war is actually the majority of opinion for Americans.

06:36If this war were to continue and we were to see, sadly, see American troops coming home with unflagged-draped coffins,

06:45I think you would see Americans totally saying the same thing I'm saying.

06:49I hope that never happens.

06:51Again, I think President Trump has us on a path to peace.

06:54And I think that's what he's working on.

06:56And I hope Israel does the same thing.

06:58Do you worry politically the divide here could hurt Republicans in the midterms?

07:03I hope not.

07:04But I'll say this.

07:06I think Republicans need to earn Americans' votes.

07:09You know, I have no problem being critical of Republicans.

07:12And I don't think we're earning our votes in the midterm.

07:15And that's on Congress.

07:17We need to be passing executive orders.

07:19We need to be cutting the spending.

07:21And we need to pass the president's agenda.

07:24And I think that way we can win the midterms.

07:27This is the first time I've really heard you be critical of President Trump.

07:30I'm not being critical of President Trump.

07:32Manu, you've heard me say over and over again as we've talked now and as Alex videoing with his camera,

07:38I've said over and over I support the president.

07:40So any narrative against me would be a lie and that would be a smear against me and it would be wrong to say that.

07:46What I have said is I can disagree with the president.

07:50Currently in his administration, he's got plenty of people that have disagreed with him in the past.

07:55He's got Tulsi Gabbard.

07:56She ran against him for president in 2020.

07:59She's got RFK.

08:00He's got RFK.

08:01He ran against him in 2024.

08:03And there's many former Democrats that are supporters and donors.

08:08But that's what MAGA is.

08:10It's a collection of Americans that have come together and say America first.

08:14But you think he's listening to the neocons, I suppose.

08:19That's sort of what I gathered from the post-in-law.

08:21Oh, I think the neocons were beating the war drums really hard.

08:26And they were all over social media and all over TV.

08:30And they've been pushing.

08:32They would love to have more foreign wars.

08:34That's what they absolutely love.

08:36I'm completely against that.

08:37I'm unapologetic about saying that.

08:40It's okay for me to disagree with President Trump.

08:45That's perfectly fine.

08:46You know, Democrats right now are out protesting in the streets saying no kings.

08:52We settled that in 1776.

08:54We handled that.

08:55No more kings.

08:56President Trump is not a king.

08:58MAGA is not a cult.

08:59And I'm entitled to my own opinion.

09:02I can support the president at the same time as I say.

09:05I don't think we should have foreign wars.

09:06And I can tell you right now, President Trump doesn't want to stay in a foreign war either.

09:11Have you talked to him at all about this last day or day?

09:14He's been pretty busy.

09:15I appreciate the time.

09:16Yeah, you bet.

09:17Thanks a lot.

09:18Yeah, we'll see you later.

09:18Thanks a lot.

09:19Appreciate it.

09:20Thanks a lot.

09:21Appreciate it.

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