Marjorie Taylor Greene breaks MAGA stupidity barrier as Democrats vow to save Mike Johnson

Well, they said it couldn’t be done. Americans who’ve maintained their sanity saw no way, in this age of performative political extremism, that a Donald-Trump-loving lawmaker could ever go too far. They said the MAGA stupidity barrier could never be broken.

Then along came Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Witless), whose crusade to oust GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson – for the high crime of governing – has somehow brought Democrats and Republicans together, united against her unique form of legislative ludicrousness.

On Wednesday, speaking to reporters who probably wanted to be elsewhere, Greene confirmed that next week she will trigger her motion to boot House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“Mike Johnson is not capable of that job. He has proven it over and over again,” Greene said. “Now we have (Democratic House Minority Leader) Hakeem Jeffries coming out over and over again, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet sloppy kiss.”

Democrats, of all people, say they'll save the House speaker from Greene

Greene’s dime-store bipartisan erotic fan-fiction aside, her motion is destined to fail, much like the lawmaker’s political career. Democrats have said they will vote to save Johnson’s speakership, and Greene has only a couple equally loony GOP lawmakers on her side in this fight.

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On Tuesday, House Democratic leadership released a statement saying Greene’s motion to vacate “will not succeed,” adding: “From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have put people over politics and found bipartisan common ground with traditional Republicans in order to deliver real results. At the same time, House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that.”

To his credit, Johnson has remained resolute in the face of Greene’s attacks: “I have to do my job. We have to do what we believe to be the right thing. What the country needs right now is a functioning Congress. … I have to do what I believe is right every day and let the chips fall where they may.”

The MAGA movement has always relied on performative nonsense

Time and again, MAGA leaders from Donald Trump to attention-seeking right-wing pundits to the various Trump-wannabes in Congress have done things that are: a) dumb; b) purposely and antagonistically performative; and c) not designed to help anyone.

So it was reasonable for Greene – whose career was hatched in a MAGA laboratory – to think there were no limits to the power of performative right-wing ninny-ness.

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But now she has somehow forged bipartisanship in a legislative body that’s effectively made of oil and water.

Speaker Johnson's crimes are what normal people would call 'doing your job'

Greene believes her party should be rid of Johnson because he had the audacity to lean on Democrats to keep the government from shutting down in March, he supported the reauthorization of a government surveillance bill that U.S. intelligence officials said was crucial to national security and he allowed the House to vote on and pass a bill sending much-needed military aid to Ukraine.

In other words, he did what a strong majority of U.S. elected officials believed should be done rather than blockading legislation opposed by a rabid minority of his own party.

In Greene’s English-to-MAGA dictionary, cooperation is known as “EXTREME COWARDICE!”

We thought MAGA had no bottom, but MTG found it

To Democrats, despite Johnson’s own MAGA bona fides, that cooperation was appreciated, thus their decision to help him out of a jam of Greene’s making.

So there it is. We have found the line where the nihilism and stupidity of the MAGA mindset becomes too much for even the most loyal of Trump’s acolytes.

Asked recently if he considers Greene a serious lawmaker, Johnson skewered her with the devastatingly Southern dagger “Bless her heart,” adding: “I don’t think she’s proving to be, no. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about her, I’ve got to do my job.”

When your business is making monsters, you're bound to get attacked

Trump has taught legions of Republicans, some of whom may at one time have been reasonable people, that all they need to do to govern is holler and fear-monger and own the libs while brashly ignoring things like facts and decency and decorum.

It has worked for many of them, but a laboratory of lunkheads was bound to produce a monster that would turn on its babbling brethren.

That’s what they’ve got in Greene. And her mission to topple Johnson just tore through the MAGA stupidity barrier.

Who would’ve thought it possible?

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did MTG go too far for MAGA? Even Democrats offer to save Johnson