Michael Steele, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, warned that extremist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will be the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in all but name.
Conspiracy theory-peddling Greene and her fellow far-right, Donald Trump-devoted GOP lawmakers in the House will hold enormous sway and power over House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should he be elected the chamber’s next Speaker in January, Steele noted on Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Greene “will be the most powerful Speaker of the House because she will have the opportunity to control what comes out of Kevin’s mouth around the things that matter to that small cadre,” he predicted.
“I just call the thing what it is,” Steele continued.
“You call it shadow, I call it the thing. It’s the job, because what you can’t make that separation, when she is … you’re dragging her to your events and you’re propping her up, telling her we’re going to put you back in committee, we’re going to give you a powerful leadership role. Come on.”
The then-Democratic-led House stripped Greene of her committee assignments last year over her embrace of anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy theories and for “liking” Facebook posts demanding the execution of prominent Democrats.
Following the GOP’s razor-thin flipping of the House in the 2022 midterm elections, Greene is widely expected to be reinstated on committees as McCarthy vowed following her removal in 2021.
