'This isn't fringe anymore': Democrats express horror at Marjorie Taylor Greene's dangerous idea

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Wednesday suggested temporarily barring Democrats who move to red states from voting, in what she called a "national divorce scenario."

Greene took issue with Democrats moving from blue states to red states and suggested they need a "cooling off" period before being allowed to vote.

"After Democratic voters and big donors ruin a state like California, you would think it wise to stop them from doing it to another great state like Florida," she wrote on Twitter. "Brainwashed people that move from CA and NY really need a cooling off period."

Greene made the comment in response to a tweet from Pedro Gonzalez, an editor at the conservative Chronicles magazine and a fellow at the right-wing Claremont Institute. Gonzalez suggested "actively discriminating against transplants like this through legislation."

"They shouldn't be able to vote for a period, and they should have to pay a tax for their sins," he tweeted.

Greene said that Gonzalez's suggestion would be "possible in a National Divorce scenario" between red and blue states.

Greene hosted a Twitter poll in October asking her followers if the country should have a "national divorce." Though more people supported staying together than splitting up in her unscientific survey, Greene used the numbers to claim the country's divisions have become "irreconcilable."

"So many people talk to me about how divided our country is and how it's irreconcilable," she said in an interview with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in October. "I've been hearing that from so many...about dividing the country between Republican and Democrat states."

Bannon pushed back on Greene's suggestion but she insisted that the poll was a "wake-up call" for "Republicans who refuse to act like Republicans, and not just the Democrats."

She echoed that sentiment on Twitter.

"So many people tell me daily how devastated they are over the state of our union on every level, and I completely share their utter disgust and heartbreak for the condition of our country," she wrote in October. "National Divorce is talked about often privately, but not publicly, so I took a poll."

She doubled down again after her comments on Wednesday, writing that "we Republicans don't want your blue votes ruining our red home states."

Greene's House colleagues accused freshman congresswoman of calling for civil war.

"There is no 'National Divorce' either you are for civil war or not," tweeted Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. "Just say it if you want a civil war and officially declare yourself a traitor."

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., urged his followers not to "ignore" Greene's rants.

"I want you to see what a GOP-run country looks like. They will take your right to vote if you don't agree with them. MTG may sound batty but she's not kidding and she has [House GOP leader] Kevin McCarthy fully behind her," Swalwell wrote.

"The most popular national Republicans are openly advocating for an end to American democracy," tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. "This isn't fringe anymore. This is mainstream Republican thinking, folks."