SAUNDERS: Marjorie Taylor Greene runs to anti-Trump embrace of ‘60 Minutes,’ CNN

WASHINGTON — If you tuned into “60 Minutes” Sunday night, you saw Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., talk about her falling out with President Donald Trump and her decision to resign from the House in the middle of what was supposed to be her third two-year term.

That Greene would get her own star segment on “60 Minutes” is no surprise. As Mark Bednar, a Republican communications professional, noted on the 2WAY platform’s “The Morning Meeting,” legacy media hold their arms open wide “for Republicans who want to, like, trash the party.”

Bednar called it “a very strong perverse incentive structure.”

He is so right. Consider the long train of putative Republicans who have appeared regularly on CNN, MS-whatever, and other networks after they denounced President Donald Trump: Adam Kinzinger, George Conway and Ana Navarro, Michael Steele, Nicole Wallace, Steve Schmidt, Charlie Sykes and practically everyone at The Bulwark.

Sure, they have reasons for not liking Trump: his affection for Vladimir Putin, his puerile name-calling and insatiable ego. But they also know where their bread is buttered.

They know there is top-shelf job security for right-leaning anti-Trumpers. They can’t win elections, but they can win CNN.

MTG is hardly an establishment Republican. Greene liked Facebook posts that supported executing big name Democrats like Nancy Pelosi. She suggested 9/11 might be a hoax. Ditto school shootings.

She once sold “defund the FBI” merchandise.

She voted against the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

But the split with Trump came when she supported releasing the files of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For that, Trump branded her a “traitor.”

After the “60 Minutes” segment ran, Trump doubled down on Truth Social: “The only reason Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown (Green turns Brown under stress!) went BAD is that she was JILTED by the President of the United States (Certainly not the first time she has been jilted!).” Trump also called her “a very dumb person.”

In the past, Trump has dumped on MAGA Republicans only to see them cozy up to him.

Greene just broke that mold. She told Lesley Stahl, “I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024 they all started, excuse my language, Lesley, kissing his ass and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time.”

Yes, MTG, who has been called “Trump in high heels,” has joined the anti-DJT chorus.

Next stop for Greene: CNN. On Tuesday, the Georgian said that she feels sorry for Trump; it must be hard for him to be “so hateful” and filled with vitriol.

Greene said she has received hundreds of death threats, and this go-round, not from the left, but from the right.

“I got a pipe bomb thrown at my house, and several direct death threats on my son,” Greene told “60 Minutes.” “The subject line for the death threat on my son was exactly what Trump said, ‘Marjorie Traitor Greene.’”

Greene swears that she does not have plans to run for higher office. She wishes the press would take her at her word.

Me, I don’t want to see someone as unsympathetic to Israel’s plight try to win a Senate seat.

Thing is, it’s impossible to have covered politics as long as I have, and watch someone as skilled at framing the dialogue as she is and expect her to walk away.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.