Marjorie Taylor Greene cancels plans to launch ‘white nationalist’ America First Caucus
Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks during a press conference outside the US Capitol on 5 February 2021. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Marjorie Taylor Greene has seemingly abandoned launching an “America First Caucus” to protect “Ango-Saxon political traditions” after it was condemned as racist.
Forbes reported on Friday (16 April) that Greene and Republican congressman Paul Gosar from Arizona planned to start a right-wing group to “follow in president Trump‘s footsteps”.
According to a seven-page policy platform published by Punchbowl News, the America First Caucus would be composed of lawmakers who have a “common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions”.
The policy document added that “societal trust and political unity are threatened when foreign citizens are imported en-masse into a country, particularly without institutional support for assimilation and an expansive welfare state to bail them out should they fail to contribute positively to the country”. MSNBC was among many to denounce such aspirations as “continuing the country’s long history of white nationalism”.
Gosar distanced himself after the document was reported by the media. He said in a statement on Saturday (17 April) he “did not author” the paper, and he only became aware of it “by reading about it in the news yesterday like everybody else”.
Now, Greene is seemingly abandoning plans to launch the America First Caucus. Nick Dyer, a spokesperson for Greene, said in a statement to CNN that Greene is not “launching anything”. He added that the seven-page document was just “an early planning proposal and nothing was agreed to or approved”.
Republicans were quick to distance themselves from the project and Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said that America is “built on the idea that we are all created equal and success is earned through honest, hard work” – not “identity, race, or religion”.
“The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln and the party of more opportunity for all Americans — not nativist dog whistles,” he wrote.
America is built on the idea that we are all created equal and success is earned through honest, hard work. It isn’t built on identity, race, or religion.
The Republican Party is the party of Lincoln & the party of more opportunity for all Americans—not nativist dog whistles.
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 16, 2021
Liz Cheney, a representative for Wyoming, wrote on Twitter that her party believes “in equal opportunity, freedom, and justice for all”. She continued: “We teach our children the values of tolerance, decency and moral courage.
“Racism, nativism, and antisemitism are evil. History teaches we all have an obligation to confront and reject such malicious hate.”
Republicans believe in equal opportunity, freedom, and justice for all. We teach our children the values of tolerance, decency and moral courage. Racism, nativism, and anti-Semitism are evil. History teaches we all have an obligation to confront & reject such malicious hate.— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) April 16, 2021
Others took to the internet to revel in the news that the plans for the America First Caucus would be abandoned. Star Trek actor and gay legend George Takei tweeted about Greene’s claims that she hadn’t read the “draft” document for the America First Caucus, which was “roundly criticized as parroting white nationalist rhetoric”.
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she hadn’t read the “draft” document for the America First Caucus roundly criticized as parroting white nationalist rhetoric.
I actually suspect she can barely read anything in the first place, so this just might be true.— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 19, 2021
“I actually suspect she can barely read anything in the first place, so this just might be true,” Takei said.
Marjorie Taylor Greene has gone on the defensive since the America First document was dropped. She lambasted the leaked document and Punchbowl News in a series of posts on Twitter. Greene wrote “sick and evil POS in the media attacked” her with “phrases” she “never said or wrote”.
She claimed the proposal was “from an outside group”, and she was being called “a racist by taking something out of context”.
On Friday, sick and evil POS in the media attacked me with phrases I never said or wrote.
They released a staff level draft proposal from an outside group that I hadn’t read.
The scum and liars in the media are calling me a racist by taking something out of context.— Marjorie Taylor Greene ?? (@mtgreenee) April 17, 2021
She then said “so-called journalists lie and create false narratives” to “divide the American people with hate through identity politics”. Greene added that she believed “in America First with all my heart and that means every American, of every race, creed, and color”.
“I will never back down and I will never stop fighting for America First,” she wrote.
I believe in America First with all my heart and that means every American, of every race, creed, and color.
I will never back down and I will never stop fighting for America First.
There are tens of millions of Americans who agree.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene ?? (@mtgreenee) April 17, 2021
Majorie Taylor Greene rose to prominence as the “QAnon congresswoman”. She’s previously supported the conspiracy theory that claims former president Donald Trump was waging a war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media, and for opposing trans rights.
In recent months, she has become notorious for her continued attacks on trans rights.
