What’s behind Marjorie Taylor Greene’s cash flow problem?

The Congresswoman raked in more donations than AOC — way more. But not long after, she posted a deficit, spending more than she took in. What gives?

Eric Garcia
Washington DC
Wednesday 20 April 2022 16:09 BST
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Election 2022 Georgia Greene
Election 2022 Georgia Greene

Within a month of being sworn into Congress in 2021, the House of Representatives voted to boot Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees for her history of bigoted remarks and conspiracy-mongering. But that didn’t temper conservative support for her; if anything, it bolstered it, helping the congresswoman raise $3.2 million in the first three months of 2021. It’s surprising to see a first-year member of Congress from a safe district rake in that much – and by comparison, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whom Greene takes pleasure in publicly insulting, raised $2.8 million during that same fundraising period.

That seemed to persist throughout the year. During the final three months of 2021, Greene picked a vicious fight with fellow Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina, which led to Mace saying, "Bless her f**king heart" (a note from your dispatcher, who spent considerable timeb elow the Mason-Dixon Line: If a Southern woman tells you "Bless your heart," they pretty much want you to go straight to hell). During that same period, Greene raised $1.2 million and spent $925,000.

And yet, in this most recent fundraising quarter, Greene actually posted a deficit, raising $1.07 million and spending $1.41 million. So what gives?

For one thing, she seems to have spent a ton on lawyers. That includes more than $10,000 on legal fees for a group affiliated with John C Eastman, the Trump lawyer who authored the infamous "coup memo." But there’s probably another, bigger factor at work.

This was the first fundraising quarter since Twitter kicked Greene’s personal account off for good for spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines. She still has access to the account where she tweets in an official capacity, but she is not permitted to raise money off it. That’s because most US politicians have two Twitter accounts — one personal, that is generally more colloquial in tone and allows for links to fundraisers — and one official government account, where the tone tends to be much more staid and personal fundraising isn’t allowed. Cutting Greene off from her personal account is therefore a very impactful financial neutering.

So, like her beloved former president Donald Trump, she has lost the use of one of the most powerful fundraising platforms there is. But that doesn’t mean she lacks cash.

Greene still has $3 million in the bank. And mall-donor contributors may feel better about giving money to her Democratic opponent Marcus Flowers whenever she says anything racist or blatantly offensive, but they might as well be setting their money on fire since the district has a 45 percent partisan lean towards Republicans.

Greene is now in a weird spot where she can’t livestream her latest sound and fury, which means less cash. But she can stay in that seat for the next decade if she desires. That is, if the Jewish space laser doesn’t get her first.

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