Marjorie Taylor Greene Drops "America First Caucus" Plans After Proposal Leaks
Apr. 18 2021, Published 4:02 p.m. ET
In yet another PR nightmare for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.), the MAGA-supporting lawmaker has ditched America First Caucus plans amid intense controversy. A spokesperson said Greene is “not launching anything” on Saturday, April 17, just one day after telling the public to “be on the look out for the release of the America First Caucus platform,” per CNN.
The reversal comes two days after Punchbowl News reported that Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar (R–Ariz.) were leading the new caucus. Punchbowl also shared a flyer of the caucus’s proposed platform, which included support for “Anglo-Saxon traditions.”
“The Congresswoman wants to make clear that she is not launching anything. This was an early planning proposal and nothing was agreed to or approved,” spokesperson Nick Dyer said in an email to CNN on Saturday. “She didn’t approve that language and has no plans to launch anything.”
The proposed platform championed “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and infrastructure that “befits the progeny of European architecture.”
The platform flyer used inflammatory rhetoric, according to CNN, including calls for a “common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions” in the same section that cites “mass immigration” as a threat to “the long-term existential future of America as a unique country with a unique culture and a unique identity.”
In the infrastructure section, meanwhile, the document touts that the America First Caucus would “work towards an infrastructure that reflects the architectural, engineering and aesthetic value that befits the progeny of European architecture.”
On Friday, April 16, Dyer complained about the leak of a draft document but also confirmed that the caucus was in the works, telling CNN that it would be “announced very soon.”
Raja Krishnamoorthi compared the America First Caucus to the KKK.
The talking points in the America First document released by Punchbowl sparked outrage online and in the press, with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) telling MSNBC on Saturday that the America First Caucus “sounds like the Ku Klux Caucus to me.”
For her part, Greene denied that the platform was “racist” and said that the document was “a staff level draft proposal from an outside group that I hadn't read,” according to Newsweek.
John Boehner called the America First Caucus “one of the nuttiest things” he has ever seen.
Former Speaker John Boehner (R–Ohio) also criticized the planned America First Caucus, saying on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, April 18, that other members of the GOP should “denounce it.”
“I wouldn't call it mainstream in our party, but I can tell you that this so-called America First Caucus is one of the nuttiest things I've ever seen,” he said, per The Hill. “Listen, America is a land of immigration. We've been the world's giant melting pot for the last 250 years, and we've got to celebrate that we're this giant melting pot.”
Matt Gaetz was “proud” to support the America First Caucus.
Some Republicans backed the America First Caucus, however, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R–Fla.). “I’m proud to join [Greene] in the #AmericaFirst Caucus,” he tweeted on Friday. “We will end wars, stop illegal immigration & promote trade that is fair to American workers.”
Gaetz, by the way, is under federal investigation over allegations involving sex trafficking and prostitution, CNN reports.
