GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s biggest donors are largely standing by her after the House voted to remove her from several committees due to her past incendiary comments, as well as her previous support of conspiracy theories and messages endorsing violence against lawmakers.
CNBC reached out to donors who backed freshman lawmaker Greene’s run for Congress last year. Several did not respond, while most of the donors who did respond said they would back Greene again after CNN and other outlets unearthed incendiary comments and social media actions from her recent past.
In 2019, Greene liked a Facebook comment that said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., according to CNN. Video emerged of Greene following and berating gun-safety activist David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school massacre.
She has also promoted the false QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits that devil-worshipping Democrats and elites are part of a cabal that traffics, sexually abuses and tortures children.
Greene said she regrets many of her previous stances but has yet to publicly apologize for them. In remarks last week, she said the mainstream was just as bad as QAnon in spreading lies.
The controversies and the House’s disciplinary action don’t appear to be making a dent in her fundraising apparatus and could even boost her chances of getting reelected in 2022.
“She stands by the conservative values we all have and will not compromise,” said donor Pamela Reardon, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty, who gave Greene’s campaign over $3,000. “She is the same person today as she was 3 or 4 years ago.”
“AMERICA FIRST,” Reardon added in a text message, repeating a key theme of former President Donald Trump’s campaigns.
All House Democrats and some Republicans voted last week to remove Greene from her committee assignments due to her past comments and actions. The controversy appears to be helping her with donors. Before the House voted her off the committees, Greene told the Washington Examiner that Democratic lawmakers were actually helping her campaign. Greene told the publication that she recently raised over $300,000.
Greene, herself a wealthy businessperson, loaned her campaign more than $900,000 during the last cycle. Yet a group of business leaders gave her committee big checks and helped her raise over $2.5 million, according to data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. She won the race for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District with an overwhelming 74% of the vote.
Greene was one of over 100 House Republicans who challenged the electoral results of the 2020 presidential election. She has been an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump. Greene recently tweeted that she had spoken to Trump and that he supports her.
Republican leaders have been concerned about raising money for the 2022 midterm elections after some companies said they would pause their donations in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
Greene, however, appears primed to have little trouble raising money for her re-election bid. Several who are prepared to back her again had given the maximum amount of $2,800 to her campaign during the primary and general election.
Thomas Beckwith, the CEO of Florida-based Beckwith Electric, gave two separate $2,800 checks to Greene’s campaign during the runoff for the GOP primary and later general election, records show. Beckwith responded “yes” over a LinkedIn message when asked whether he would support Greene again and did not respond to follow-up questions for comment.
One of the executives CNBC spoke with said he would not back Greene again, however.
Bill Pope, the CEO of Texas-based NCIC Inmate Telephone Services, said that he will not be contributing again to Greene’s campaign. Records show that Pope was a top Greene donor, at $8,400.
“She seems to be sticking her foot in her mouth,” Pope said in a LinkedIn message. “Yeah, I’ll be passing on her.”
Still, the overall continued support of Greene represents a larger reckoning within the Republican Party, as several of the GOP’s leaders have sought to distance themselves from Trump and his far-right base.
“They [Republican Party officials] did not count on the base not wanting to return to it and also electing pro-Trump officials who continue to espouse what can only be described as crazy and morally repugnant views,” Republican strategist Evan Siegfried recently told CNBC.
In the buildup to Greene’s removal from the committees, she was fundraising off Democrats looking to take her down.
ProPublica archived a set of now deleted tweets from Greene’s personal Twitter account where she actively raised money.
“Thank you to you to the 13,000 America First Patriots who have sent a message to the radical Democrat mob in the last 48 hours by donating to defend my seat in Congress,” she said in a tweet ProPublica says was deleted on Feb. 3.
A tweet that ProPublica says was deleted that same day has a link to a picture of Greene and Trump together. “The Democrats want you expelled, the Fake News Media smears you, and the Silicon Valley Cartel wants to shut you down,” the page says, while asking people to give their name and phone number to “stand with MTG.”
“Let’s keep sending the message to the Democrat mob. We’re already raised $100,000 today. Can we raise $50,000 more to defend my seat before midnight?” the deleted tweet with the link said.
A Greene tweet deleted on Feb. 5, the day after she was removed from her committee assignments, takes aim at the Democrats and Republicans who voted in favor of the move.
“First 10 who voted for the impeachment of President Trump. Then 11 who voted with Democrats against me, opening the door for every Republican to be taken,” Greene’s tweet said at the time. “The base is keeping list of these type of “R’s.” They’re fed up. This type of betrayal will cost us the majority in ’22.”
A press representative for Greene did not respond to a request for comment.
