Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene walked out of a Wednesday interview with 11Alive as “The Georgia Vote” co-anchor Zach Merchant pressed her on her past political rhetoric.
Greene, who announced her upcoming Jan. 5 resignation on Nov. 21 after President Donald Trump called her a “traitor,” has labeled Republicans she opposed “traitors” in recent years. She expressed irritation with Merchant as he repeatedly questioned her on her inflammatory rhetoric.
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“You have said in this interview in so many words, and you’ve said in other interviews … you want to move past what you called the toxic politics of our modern system,” Merchant said. “You yourself have a history of making sometimes controversial comments. Looking back, do you feel like you have anything personally to apologize for and possibly contributing to that discourse?”
“This seems to be the popular question from everyone that is interviewing me, and I’ve very much already addressed that. I don’t think it has to be said over and over again in every single interview I do, but I’m sincere in my words,” Greene said. “I think that America has been ripped apart by both sides of the aisle with toxic politics … not only have I been a part of it, every Republican has and every Democrat has. I’ve also been a victim of it just as many others have been.”
Greene added that it was crucial for everybody to “take responsibility” for their conduct and “words.” She then pivoted to discuss other topics, but Merchant kept pressing.
“You used an expression, taking responsibility for your words. I know that you’ve mentioned here in this interview President Trump calling you a traitor was a breaking point for you,” Merchant said. “In the past, you’ve tweeted, you called [former] Republican [Virginia] Congressman Bob Good a traitor. You called some Republicans who voted for [former] President Biden’s infrastructure bill traitor Republicans. You’ve used that language, too. Do you regret that?”
Greene confirmed that she regretted those remarks before asserting that she had “already addressed” the topic and did not have any amendments. She also repeated that she had been victimized by harsh rhetoric.
“So again, I want to reiterate this is a two-way street and I seem to be the only one willing to take responsibility,” she said.
“You say you’re taking responsibility for it. I just want to be really clear. Do you regret — do you apologize for saying those things?” Merchant asked.
Greene offered a brief response.
“I’ve already addressed this. I said it on CNN. I’ve said it back in 2020,” she said. “And thank you, I’ve already addressed it.”
Merchant continued pushing Greene to explain her remorse, but she repeatedly declined to do so.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know why you have this motive. I don’t quite understand it, but I’ve already addressed it and people have thanked me and I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” she said. “But this isn’t an exercise that I should have to go through on every single interview, and it’s quite unbecoming of you to continue to have to push that.”
“Ma’am, some people would argue that saying colleagues were traitors was unbecoming,” Merchant replied. “I don’t think this is an unreasonable question.”
Greene accused Merchant of partaking in the exact “toxic” rhetoric she was referring to and urged him to “take responsibility” for his comments. Merchant finally gave up on the line of questioning to move on to a final topic, but Greene opted to end the interview.
“Thank you so much. I appreciate the interview. Hopefully — good luck,” she said as she departed.
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