‘Girl version of Yosemite Sam’: Constituents paint complicated portrait of MTG

ROME, Ga. — On the national stage, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) captures nonstop attention for her gun-wielding, rabble-rousing, speaker-slaying, election-denying persona.

Look at her 2020 congressional campaign ad where she fires a semi-automatic rifle into targets symbolizing Democratic policy concerns such as climate change and gun control.

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Or when she blows up a car symbolizing the “Democrats’ socialist agenda” with another semi-automatic rifle she raffled off during her 2022 campaign.

Or there’s the time when Greene got attention for interrupting President Joe Biden’s State of the Union donning a white fur coat.

That’s even before her efforts to oust Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson for his cooperation with Democrats to pass a government funding bill.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) interrupts during President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on February 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“She comes across sometimes like a girl version of Yosemite Sam, just kind of ‘pew, pew, pew, pew,’” said Wendy Davis, a former city commissioner for Rome, Ga., who ran and lost in the 2022 Democratic primary for the 14th District seat. “Not just because of her seemed love of guns, but just that firing off at the slightest thing.”

But the MTG that Americans see on the national stage isn’t always the same fiery character in person. Sometimes she is, but other times she’s “very nice” and asks “politely worded questions,” her constituents tell Raw Story.

MTG in the wild

Raw Story traveled to Greene’s 14th Congressional District to speak with some of her constituents, both Republicans and Democrats, who’ve had an opportunity to see her in-person.

Together, they paint a picture of what the headline-grabbing congresswoman is really like off camera when engaging with her community.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) with a supporter at a primary election watch party on May 24, 2022 in Rome, Ga. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Mary Bramblett, a member of the Floyd County Republican Women, recalled once seeing Greene while Christmas shopping at a local Hobby Lobby with her cousin. Bramblett’s cousin wanted a photo, so they followed Greene around the store, which “she didn’t seem to mind at all,” Bramblett said.

Bramblett also heard Greene speak in-person at a meeting for the Floyd County Republican Women.

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“Her speeches, you know how she can become so, well, like Trump? She’s so down to earth … she was great,” Bramblett said. “Very passionate, even the day she spoke to us, she was just so passionate about everything wanting to be more perfect, which is what she said.”

Maggie Combs, another member of the Floyd County Republican Women, said of meeting Greene at the party event, “She's a very nice person. Very, very out front, and that's what matters.”

Nedra Manners, the owner of Yellow Door Antiques and Art and a member of the Floyd County Democratic Party, said she met Greene at a fundraiser in September 2020. Manners described Greene as “fine in person” and “real nice.”

Nedra Manners at her shop, Yellow Door Antiques and Art. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

But Greene did question the decision to move the fundraiser from its usual spot on a popular pedestrian bridge to a hotel courtyard where more social distancing was possible during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Manners said.

“It was smaller, but tables were spread around, and everybody felt real comfortable out there,” Manners said. “So, I was introduced to her, and we had this magazine that showed the event on the bridge, and her question was, ‘why didn't y'all have it out there this year?’ Because she didn't get it.”

Davis was in the same room as Greene when they both were supervising vote recounts for their respective parties in 2020.

Wendy Davis in Rome, Ga (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

“She has this capacity to be this flame throwing ‘la, la, la,’ loud, loud, loud, angry, mad, ‘everybody else is bad’ energy when she's trying to be in front of a camera,” Davis said. “When she's in smaller spaces, she's smaller. She's more like a regular person.”

Davis said Greene would make comments on camera about how “this election was probably stolen,” but then “she comes inside, and she's just asking legitimate, nicely, politely worded questions, and just watching, right, not making a spectacle of herself.”

Added Davis: “Why do you have to be two different things? Just be who you are.”

Kelly Thurman, an employee with the Murray County Sheriff’s Office, and his wife, Michelle Thurman, a dental assistant and office manager, said Greene frequently visits Murray County in Greene’s sprawling district.

“She believes in values that a lot of small town people have, I guess, and so that's one reason everybody likes her,” Michlle Thurman said. “She likes to stand behind the people themselves. A lot of people don't want to stand behind the people, just the politics. But she's definitely for the people.”

One of the values that Greene best represents in the community is her belief in “gun laws and the right for us to carry,” Michelle Thurman said.

Kelly Thurman (far left) and Michelle Thurman (far right) at a campaign event for Murray County Sheriff Jimmy Davenport. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

Lamar Wadsworth, chair of the Polk County Democratic Party, said he saw Greene from a distance in the parking lot of a local grocery during her first campaign. He said she spoke from the back of a pickup truck to about 10 people.

“I don't know what attracts people to her except Trumpianity is the dominant religion here, and she’s wholeheartedly in the Trump cult. I don't really remember anything standing out. There’s simply nothing about her that qualifies her,” Wadsworth said. “A lot of people who are just decent people are fed up with her antics. You know, her behavior would get her suspended in middle school.”

Garry Baldwin (left) and Lamar Wadsworth (right), members of the Polk County Democratic Party, at a McDonald's in Rockmart, Ga. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

Numerous other constituents in Greene’s district previously told Raw Story they’ve never had a chance to meet her and find her presence in the district to be lacking, particularly as her district office is not publicly listed and only available to visit by appointment.

Greene’s spokesperson, Nick Dyer, did not respond to Raw Story’s interview request.

Greene is favored to win the November general election for her seat in Georgia's 14th Congressional District, which she won with 65.9 percent of the vote in 2022. Still, Democrats are determined to challenge her for the seat, with Shawn Harris challenging her in November after winning Tuesday's Democratic runoff election.