Trump Reportedly Talked Marjorie Taylor Greene Out of Senate Run by Showing Her a Brutal Poll
Spencer Platt/Getty Images (L)/Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (R)
President Donald Trump nixed a potential Senate run by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), according to The Wall Street Journal, which said he shared with her a brutal poll “in a bid to discourage her from running in 2026.”
Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, conducted a survey that showed her trailing Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) by 18 points, a markedly less competitive figure than Governor Brian Kemp and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who now serves as head of the Small Business Administration. Last week, Greene announced on social media that she would not challenge Ossoff.
Reached for comment by the Journal, Greene expressed anger.
“To my knowledge, a lot of this was private conversation, and apparently is being leaked,” she said, adding that Fabrizio “has refused to work for me because he says he has a conflict, which means he’s working for someone against me.”
The congresswoman added, “The same people telling Trump I can’t win a general [election] are the same people that get filthy rich off consulting on as many campaigns they can get the president to endorse.”
Last week, Axios cited one anonymous Trump adviser who said the president “doesn’t love her chances” in a Senate race.
Historically, Trump has a poor track record in Georgia, though this latest move will come as a relief to Republicans who doubt Greene’s chances at higher office.
After losing the state in the 2020 election, the president falsely claimed the election was rigged against him, likely depressing Republican turnout in two runoff races for U.S. Senate in Georgia, which flipped control of the chamber to the Democrats. In 2022, Trump backed primary challenges to Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after they refused to go along with his scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. Both Trump-backed candidates lost. That year, Trump also endorsed Herschel Walker in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Ultimately, Walker lost to Sen. Raphael Warnock.
