Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. speaks during the first day of the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024. The RNC kicked off the first day of the convention with the roll call vote of the states.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol on November 18, 2025, in Washington, DC.

In her first interview since resigning from Congress, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke out about her public separation from President Donald Trump, saying he has abandoned his MAGA base to help big donors and his recent rhertoric about her has lead to death threats.

The controversial Georgia representative, elected in 2020, defended her move to independently leave office in a 60 Minutes interview with CBS’s Lesley Stahl.

Greene, a long-time Trump ally, announced her resignation on Nov. 21, citing reasons for leaving office, including the GOP party changing and wanting more time with her family.

The move comes one year before her term was set to end, and came after the president said he'd toss his support to someone else if she gave up her seat. The move also came after Trump called Greene a “traitor” for criticizing his administration’s handling of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"It wasn't a decision that I came to lightly... it was sudden, but a lot of things changed," Greene told StahI in the interview. "I stood for women who were raped when they were 14 years old, and the president that I fought for for five years called me a traitor for that. And so that changed the landscape of things."

She also went on to say Trump, who recently called her a "wacky" and "ranting lunatic" did not push her out of office.

"I said in my statement I will be no one's battered wife, and I meant it," Greene said. "And I won't allow the system to abuse me anymore."

Greene, who has publicly called for the release of the Epstein files, said Trump did not want the documents released, saying publication of the files would "hurt people... I don't know what that means," Greene said. "I don't know who they are."

Death threats and a pipe bomb

Since Trump dubbed the former congresswoman a traitor, she said both she and her son have received death threats and she's even "had a pipe bomb threat at her house."

Trump denied his words created chaos for Greene in an interivew with reporters.

When Greene said she told Vice President J.D. Vance about it, he said the threats would be investigated. She said when she told Trump, he responded with "extremely unkind" words but would not elaborate.

Greene on Republican leaders: 'I think they're terrified to step up'

Greene went onto tell Stahl she believes Republicans are afraid to stand up to Trump, lest they be outcast by the president and his close allies.

“I watched many of my colleagues go from making fun of him, making fun of how he talks, making fun of me constantly for supporting him to when he won the primary in 2024, they all started, excuse my language, Lesley, kissing his (expletive) and decided to put on a MAGA hat for the first time,” Greene said.

“I think they’re terrified to step out of line," Green said.

Contributing: Reuters, and Ty Tagami with Capitol Beat News Service

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What did Marjorie Taylor Greene say in '60 Minutes' interview?

Reporting by Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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