'Spectacular' defeat in Johnson battle leaves Marjorie Taylor Greene 'weak and feeble': analysis

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) suffered a major humiliation when, on Wednesday, May 8, her proposal to oust Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) as speaker was overwhelmingly rejected by both Democrats and Republicans.

Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans have a small single-digit majority, voted 359-43 to table Greene's "motion to vacate" against Johnson.

Among Democrats, the vote was 163 in support of keeping Johnson as speaker and 32 against. And only 11 House Republicans favored ousting Johnson; 196 were opposed.

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In a column published on May 9, MSNBC's Steve Benen stresses that it would be pointless for Greene to pursue any more efforts to oust Johnson as speaker.

"Greene took her best shot; she failed spectacularly, and lawmakers will now go back to their previously scheduled plans," Benen argues. "The Georgian could theoretically try again at some point, but it's unlikely that a second attempt would be any more successful than the first. But that's not to say this gambit was inconsequential."

Benen continues, "On the contrary, when assessing what Greene has to show for her efforts, it's important to realize that she ended up with less than nothing: The radical congresswoman is much worse off than she was before."

The MSNBC columnist notes that when Greene got up to address the House on May 8, lawmakers, according to the Washington Post, "heckled her and shouted boos" — a clear sign of how unpopular her "motion to vacate" against Johnson was.

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"Taking stock, Greene not only picked a dramatic fight without a coherent strategy to succeed — she did so in such a way that alienated her ostensible allies," Benen emphasizes. "What's more, the congresswoman settled on a series of rather specific demands she expected GOP leaders to meet, but ended up receiving exactly zero concessions from Johnson and his team."

The MSNBC columist continues, "To be sure, the Republican extremist wasn't exactly a respected figure on Capitol Hill before. But as the dust settles on the latest example of GOP chaos, Greene appears weaker, more isolated, and more feeble."

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Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.