A photo shared by Georgia Republicans showed that the venue where MAGA loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene held a town hall last week was half-empty ahead of her getting on stage. But claims that this is a sign that the pro-Trump Republican is losing support among her voters might be unfounded.
The Republican congresswoman, who serves the 14th District of Georgia, met with her constituents in Rome City Auditorium last Thursday before embarking on a trip to Texas with her partner Brian Glenn, host at the Right Side Broadcasting Network—a pro-Trump, conservative media company. Congress was still in its August recess.
Greene shared several clips of the event on her account on X, formerly known as Twitter, including a link to a live recording of the entire event streamed on Facebook. Crucially, the footage focuses on Greene and does not show the audience in attendance.
But a photo shared by the Walker County Republican Party on Facebook on Saturday showing that less than half the seats in the audience were filled before Greene got on stage caught the attention of the liberal, independent news network MeidasTouch.
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The news company wrote online that the photo was proof that the event was poorly attended, a sign that “a good chunk of MAGA folks are still upset with Greene over her break with the Freedom Caucus to align with Kevin McCarthy.”
It added that it was “definitely not the kind of turnout” that Donald Trump would expect to see from a potential 2024 running mate.
Greene, a fiery far-right politician known to have spread QAnon-related conspiracy theories, as well as her own, has risen through the ranks of the GOP in the past few years thanks to her aggressive style and her unwavering loyalty to Trump.
She recently made a move into the mainstream wing of the party by supporting Kevin McCarthy’s bid for election to House Speaker—a decision that cost her the affection of her former allies within the Freedom Caucus, some of whom opposed the California congressman’s nomination.
In July, members of the Freedom Caucus confirmed that Greene had officially been voted out of the group the previous month. She’s the first member ever to be kicked off the ultraconservative group since its foundation in 2015.
Walker County was represented at Marjorie Taylor Greene Town Hall in Rome this past Thursday helping Floyd County Republican Party with registration….
Greene’s support for McCarthy was also seen as something of a betrayal by many of her supporters. As Newsweek reported in January, several InfoWars viewers called show host Owen Shroyer during the House Speaker’s election to complain about Greene’s support for the California representative, accusing her of being “a fraud.”
Criticism of the Georgia Republican only grew after she voted in support of raising the debt ceiling in late May, which led her former ally Steve Bannon to call for a primary for her district so that she could be replaced by “real MAGA.”
While there’s no recent data on her popularity among Republican voters, a June survey by Statista shows that only 25 percent of American adults have a favorable opinion of Greene, with 11 percent holding a “very favorable” opinion and 14 percent a “somewhat favorable” one.
A total of 43 percent of respondents had a negative opinion of the pro-Trump Republican, with 8 percent having a “somewhat unfavorable” opinion and 35 percent holding a “very unfavorable” one. Some 32 percent didn’t know how to feel about Greene.
However, Greene was re-elected in her strongly Republican district last November with 66 percent of the vote.
It’s also not clear whether the event was actually as sparsely attended as the photo shared by the Walker County Republican Party would suggest. The picture was shot ahead of the event—meaning that more people might have joined closer to the time Greene got on stage.
On the official page for the event on Greene’s website, it says: “This event has reached its registration limit and is now closed.” It’s unclear whether the registration limit meant that the event was in fact sold out, or simply the deadline for registering for the event had passed.
Newsweek contacted Greene’s spokesperson for comment by email on Tuesday.
During the event, Greene issued an ultimatum to Congress, saying she won’t be approving a short-term continuing resolution that will keep government funding at current levels and avoid a potential shutdown on September 30 unless the House meets certain conditions.
Among these, there’s the launch of an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.