Marjorie Taylor Greene Hits Out at McCarthy Criticism: 'I'm a Realist'

A clip of Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene denying she made a deal to support Kevin McCarthy as House leader has appeared online.

During her December 1 interview on The Jenna Ellis Show, Greene said that she did not have to "compromise" anything to back the California representative to become Speaker of the House when Republicans take over the chamber in January.

Greene was asked by Ellis, a lawyer for Donald Trump, if there was any "give and take" between the pair for McCarthy to get the backing from the MAGA congresswoman. Ellis also asked Greene whether she shared concerns from some factions of the GOP that McCarthy is a "RINO [Republican in name only]" who will not follow through with his promises.

"First of all, let me say I haven't compromised anything. Nothing has changed about me and I had no deals I had to make to support Kevin McCarthy," Greene said.

"I'm a realist. And so I make my decision based on what's actually realistic, not what we wish or fantasize can happen in Congress."

Greene went on to urge her fellow Republicans to back McCarthy as "none of the investigations that we want to do can start happening" until they elect a House leader.

"Nothing can happen until we elect a speaker on January 3. And I think it's our job as representatives of the people to get our act together and show the American people that Republicans can lead in the majority and that we're willing to do that," she added.

A clip of the interview was posted online by the Patriot Takes Twitter account, where it has been viewed more than 11,000 times.

The GOP will head into the new congressional term with a narrow 222-213 majority, meaning McCarthy has only a small margin of error to achieve the 218 votes needed to be elected House Speaker.

Five House GOP members—Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mt.) and Bob Good (R-Va)—have already said suggested or signaled they will not vote for McCarthy in January, making Greene's support even more vital for him.

In an October interview with The New York Times, Greene said that any House Speaker would need to give her "a lot of power and a lot of leeway" to "please" her far-right and MAGA base.

"And if he doesn't, they're going to be very unhappy about it," Greene said. "I think that's the best way to read that. And that's not in any way a threat at all. I just think that's reality."

Greene's interview on The Jenna Ellis show took place before she was heavily criticized for suggesting that January 6 insurrection would have succeeded if she had organized it and that it "would've been armed."

Greene defended her remarks by suggesting the White House "needs to learn how sarcasm works."

A number of Democrat figures tried to tie McCarthy to Greene's remarks, suggesting the pair's alliance is a sign of the extreme future of the GOP.

"Marjorie Taylor Greene just said if she organized January 6 'it would have been armed.' This is who Kevin McCarthy wants to give power to if he becomes speaker of the House," the Democrats tweeted.

Newsweek has contacted McCarthy for comment.