Gaetz, Greene Tell ‘America First’ Rally They Disliked Liz Cheney Before It Was Cool: ‘Maybe We’re the Leaders! They Follow Us!’

On Friday Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) held an “America First” rally at The Villages, a fast-growing gerontocratic fiefdom in central Florida.

The rally came at a tumultuous time for the bombastic Gaetz, who is currently the subject of a federal investigation into whether he had sex with an underaged girl. His Republican colleagues have said little about the matter, and have for the most part kept their distance from the once ascendant three-term congressman. Greene, for her part, entered Congress in January amid controversy over her past promotions of QAnon and 9/11 conspiracy theories, as well as her apparent endorsement of the assassination of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). In February, the House voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments, with 11 Republicans joining the Democrats, who unanimously voted for the measure.

While the two backbenchers haven’t exactly endeared themselves to the GOP establishment, they’ve raised eye-popping amounts of money in part because they’re seen shunning business-as-usual politics. Gaetz hauled in $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2021 and Greene raised $3.2 million, a staggering amount for any member of Congress, let alone a freshman.

Gaetz and Greene continued burnishing their independent cred at The Villages on Wednesday, with the former mocking the recent gathering of House Republicans in Orlando:

I didn’t go to the Republican retreat because I feel like the Republicans have been in a constant state of retreat. I’m ready for an advance, not a retreat. And they go to the retreat and basically the whole retreat is Kevin McCarthy fighting with Liz Cheney and I’m watching this thinking, why did they not listen to us like three, four months ago when we said this is not gonna work.

Gaetz added, “We knew that then. I’m glad our colleagues have caught up. Maybe we’re the leaders, Marjorie! They follow us!”

The Florida Congressman spearheaded a failed effort in February to oust Cheney from the House GOP leadership.

Watch above via C-SPAN.