Marjorie Taylor Greene may be stepping out of Congress, but according to one political strategist, she is setting the stage for a grand return.
Greene stunned Washington on Friday when she released a fiery resignation video announcing she would not seek a third term. But Cornell Belcher, a political analyst appearing on MS NOW, told host Alex Witt that people are misreading the moment. “It was an announcement hiding underneath a resignation speech, right?” he said, calling her decision “politically genius.”
Belcher argued that Greene is doing something much more thought out than just quitting Congress. He believes she is presenting herself as a truth teller who has moved past the current GOP. She claims that both parties have failed “the common American people,” while still being the one willing to fight for them. “She is positioning herself to say that Congress isn’t working, and it’s not just Democrats, but also Republicans,” Belcher said.
In that narrative, Greene is not retreating. She is shedding the baggage of national party politics and rebranding herself as the authentic heir to the “America First” message. As Belcher put it, she is casting the movement as something that “has been sidelined by those corporate Republicans in Washington,” a swipe at her own party’s leadership.
He also noted that Greene’s very public break with Donald Trump over the Epstein files has created an opportunity for her to present herself in a different light, particularly on issues involving women. “To cut herself away from Trump around Epstein, and position herself as someone who’s going to be fighting for women and won’t stand down for women’s issues,” Belcher said, “That was not a resignation speech. That was a set up for an announcement speech.”
And what announcement does he think is coming? Belcher didn’t hesitate. “If I were to place a bet, Alex, she’s running for governor.”
With pushed back, reminding him that Greene has previously said she isn’t interested in statewide office. Belcher brushed that off. “Yeah, and that’s worth what?” he said. “I mean, that’s not worth the price of a cup of coffee, right?”
From his perspective, the signs are already there. “She’s clearly setting herself up for a run for another office,” he said, adding that positioning herself as the outsider resisting both parties in Washington “is not a bad place for her to position herself.”
Greene’s resignation video seemed to set the stage for a potential comeback in politics. In the video, she cast herself as a lone fighter up against what she called the “Political Industrial Complex,” insisting that no single elected leader can stop Washington’s “machine” from tearing the country apart. Real power, she said, rests with ordinary Americans. She promised to stand with them “to rebuild it” once they recognize that truth.
She concluded her retirement statement with the following, “I’m going back to the people I love, to live life to the fullest as I always have, and look forward to a new path ahead.”
What exactly that “new path” looks like remains to be seen. But to Belcher, there is little doubt: Greene isn’t fading from political life, she is preparing for a more ambitious role in GOP politics.
