Republican Senator Ted Cruz advised the public to ignore his colleague Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent criticism of their party’s handling of the government shutdown and pivot from typical conservative talking points, claiming she was becoming “very liberal.”
Greene, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, has surprised many recently by criticizing Republicans for not coming up with an affordable healthcare plan amid the shutdown, condemning Israel for “war crimes” against Palestinians and advocating for the release of the Epstein Files.
When confronted with Greene’s recent pivot on Wednesday morning’s episode of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Cruz implored people to brush off Greene.
“My advice is don’t spend much time worrying about what Marjorie is saying,” Cruz said.
Greene has criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for not releasing a detailed plan showing how Republicans plan to tackle affordable healthcare – a key issue that Democrats have advocated for to reopen the government.
She also said she does not “respect” that Johnson has sent representatives home amid the shutdown, leaving senators to figure out how to reopen the government.
Although the Georgia congresswoman remains aligned with the president on most policies, she has broken from her party amid the shutdown and chosen not to purely blame Democrats over the shutdown. It’s only the latest issue Greene has differed from colleagues on.
Cruz claimed his colleague was “suddenly” advocating for Democrat-aligned policies and asserted her views did not reflect the vast majority of Americans.
“What I find is a pretty consistent pattern is whenever an elected official decides that they’re going to turn on Israel and they hate Israel, you will very quickly see every other policy out of their mouth become very, very liberal,” Cruz said.
The Texas senator appeared to be referencing Greene’s vocal opposition to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. In July, Greene called out Israel for committing genocide in Gaza. More than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its offensive two years ago following the October 7, 2023, attack.
Although Greene’s recent statements have been embraced by some liberal lawmakers, Republicans appear to be growing frustrated with her.
Johnson recently dropped the commonly used Southern U.S. insult “bless her heart” to brush off her criticisms of Republicans.
Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) urged Greene to “put pen to paper” and “write a bill” if she was “passionate” about providing Americans an affordable healthcare opportunity.
“Present an option. Don’t just criticize what other people are doing.” Moreno said on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins.”
