Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia congresswoman and Maga firebrand, was quickly critical of missile strikes ordered Saturday by Donald Trump on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Her constituents are not.
In the past week, Israel and Iran traded strikes until the US attempted to intervene, both with its own bombs on three sites, and then with an attempted Trump-brokered ceasefire on Monday, which crumbled within hours. Greene took to social media on Saturday to stridently argue (in her longstanding style) that the US involvement wastes resources to feed the military-industrial complex.
“I’ve watched our country go to war in foreign lands for foreign causes on behalf of foreign interests for as long as I can remember,” Greene wrote on X.
“America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American. American troops have been killed and forever torn apart physically and mentally for regime change, foreign wars, and for military industrial base profits. I’m sick of it.”
“It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts, and neocon tv personalities that MAGA hates and who were NEVER TRUMPERS!” she said in another post.
It was a sentiment often repeated by Trump allies throughout his electoral campaign in 2024, when the president promised to bring world peace. But in interview after interview in Georgia’s heavily Republican 14th district, voters generally expressed satisfaction with the president’s decision to attack Iran, offering the president wide latitude for the use of military force.
“This should have happened 15 years ago,” said Richard Hodges of Rome, Georgia, having a midday drink with a friend. Iran would destroy the United States if it had the power to do so – they chant as much as rallies, he said. “They can’t have a nuclear bomb. They can’t. They’re liars, basically. We gave them the opportunity to do nuclear energy, but they want to enrich it. They’re close to having a nuclear weapon. We back Israel.”
His friend had reservations.
“I wish Trump didn’t have to do it,” said Brooke Brinson of Rome, Georgia. “My opinion”.
Last year, Trump both pledged to avoid committing America to additional wars and threatened to blow Iran to “smithereens” if it attacked the United States, while repeatedly describing the Biden administration as leading the country down the path to the third world war.
“I don’t think that they can’t be trusted,” Brinson said of Iran. “I wish nobody had nukes. That’s my opinion. I wish nobody had nukes and we could all get along. But that’s not going to happen.”
Greene’s district is more conservative than 93% of House districts. Greene herself, though a close Trump ally, draws mixed reviews.
“She probably would not be who I would vote for if there was another Republican alternative, but there’s not,” said Angela Hilliard, who lives near Rome. She supported Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, describing the country as “a persistent threat” and this action as a frightening moment.
“I feel like it ultimately is the right thing to do, but I’m not going to lie, it was very scary, and I’m still kind of just, not, 100% for sure. I think it was the right decision, but I still think there could possibly be consequences.”
Greene’s comments over the weekend raised eyebrows among conservatives, prompting her to issue a string of comments about her support for the president. Nonetheless, it is another heterodox position that draws attention to Greene, and to her district.
For Michelle Gibson of Murray county, Georgia, Greene is the default choice. “I mean, I’m always going to vote with my party–I’m not saying I have always done that–but usually it aligns more with my beliefs than the other side,” she said. “Do I think she’s a little bit extreme sometimes? Yes.”
Gibson does not begrudge Greene for her views on attacking Iran, she said. “Even though I’m for it, I realize everybody else is not going to be. And ultimately, whoever the president is, I have to try and support their decision,” Gibson said. “And I do agree with it. I think we should stop [Iran] now. I think a lot more people, and leaders and countries over there are so glad we did it, even though they’re not going to come out and say it, because [Iran is] a threat to everyone, especially over there.”
Her views on Iran are strongly shaped by her Southern Baptist faith, Gibson said.
“This is all about religion,” she said. “This isn’t about politics. You’re looking at it from a wrong standpoint. I guess because I was raised Southern Baptist, you just always protect God’s people.”
Gibson was aware of broad concerns about the conduct of the Israeli government, but said her faith prompts a tradeoff. “I think with anything we do in life, there’s always going to be a good and a bad to it, and you just have to pick whatever decision you make in life. What’s the good and does it outweigh the bad? And supporting Israel, to me, outweighs the bad.”
Many conservative voters in the district Greene represents hold overtly Christian Zionist views not primarily out of political alignment, but because they see the modern state of Israel as a necessary step in God’s prophetic timeline, tying Jewish sovereignty to their eschatological beliefs about how the world will end and Christ will return.
“I think America needs to stand with Israel. It clearly states in the Bible that any friend of Israel is a friend of Him,” said Johnny Hames of Aragon, Georgia, expressing support for the military strikes. “I’m not real political, and I don’t look at what’s going on a lot … for me it’s just processing towards the end of the world, and I think Israel will never be defeated again. That’s biblical.”
He was surprised Greene came out against the strike, he said. “Everybody’s got their own opinion. I wouldn’t want somebody in office that agrees with the president on everything he does if she thinks it’s wrong,” Hames said. “I thought she was a big Trump supporter, but then again, she got her own mind and she got her own reasons.”
Iran’s nuclear threat against Israel demanded action, said Kevin Bishop, of Taylorsville, Georgia.
“Well, I mean, I’m a strong Christian,” Bishop said. “Israel is fatherland, homeland, whatever you want to call it. I don’t think that Iran needs any nuclear bombs. They have no good intentions with them. So, we just got rid of them and I think it was a good thing to do.”
One thing Greene and her Republican constituents continue to have in common is that at the end of the day they remain true to Trump above other political interests.
After Trump declared the ceasefire on Monday, Greene was quick to clean up. “Thank you, President Trump, for pursuing PEACE,” she posted on X.
