Newman fundraises off of growing feud with Marjorie Taylor Greene

Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) sent out a fundraising email citing her growing feud with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over transgender rights.

The fundraising email centers around the Equality Act, a bill seeking to protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination that Newman, who has a transgender daughter, supports and Greene opposes.

Newman wrote that she felt “pain as I listened to GOP congressmembers like Marjorie Taylor Greene use their platforms to spew lies and bigotry on the House floor in opposition to this crucial anti-discrimination legislation, which Greene called ‘disgusting, immoral, and evil.’”

“Greene’s hateful behavior put a fire in me and reminded me why I ran for Congress in the first place — to fight for everyone’s rights in the halls of power. I will never back down, but I can’t do it alone,” Newman wrote to supporters. 

The fundraising email is the latest development in a burgeoning feud that was sparked earlier this week with Greene’s full-throated opposition to the Equality Act.

Newman tweeted out a video in which she places a transgender flag outside of her office, which neighbors Greene’s, after which Greene tweeted a video of Newman promoting the Equality Act on the House floor and calling Newman’s daughter “your biological son.”  

Later Wednesday, Greene posted a video of her putting up a new sign outside her own office that said, “There are TWO genders: MALE & FEMALE. ‘Trust The Science!’”

Greene, who was stripped from her committee assignments over past bigoted rhetoric and remarks calling for violence against Democrats, was swiftly rebuked by other Democrats.

“This hate is exactly why the #EqualityAct is necessary and what we must protect @RepMarieNewman’s daughter and all our LGBTQ+ loved ones against,” Illinois Rep. Sean Casten (D) tweeted. 

The ongoing debate over Greene and Democrats’ growing criticism of her latest remarks underscores how the Georgia Republican has become a top boogeyman for Democrats heading into the 2022 midterms.

House Democrats’ campaign arm has already made it clear they plan on yoking all House Republicans to Greene and her past controversial comments, including her support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, speculation that school shootings were hoaxes and that wildfires in California were caused by a space laser fired by a corporate cabal run by a Jewish family.

“These people are completely unmoored and really have become the face of the Republican Party,” Mark Longabaugh, a veteran Democratic operative, told The Hill this month. “You’ll see them in ads with other Republican candidates standing together, and they’ll take everything she and other Republicans have voted on or said and put that in ads. It will be a problem for Republicans.”