One year ago today, a white nationalist conference took place in Orlando. 

The host was an openly racist, antisemitic, transphobic, and misogynistic bigot who’d risen to prominence after participating in the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. On his livestream he often used the n-word during racist diatribes, expressed his desire for America to become a fascist state, and shared his hope that women would lose their right to work and vote. 

For days he’d been hinting that there would be a special surprise guest speaker at the conference -- a member of the US government. And he was true to his word. 

Shortly after leading the crowd in a pro-Putin chant and offhandedly praising Hitler (something he does a lot), he called her up on stage. In many ways, the reveal was unsurprising: The speaker, like many in the room, had endorsed violence against Democratic members of Congress. She’d peddled antisemitic conspiracy theories, flirted with QAnon, demonized immigrants, and supported the January 6th insurrection. 

But in one major way, the surprise was truly shocking: It was a member of Congress. It was Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

Greene and AZ Representative Paul Gosar -- who’d addressed the conference a year prior -- had already been stripped of their committee assignments at that point. It wouldn’t have taken much for their Republican colleagues to declare a red line had been crossed and isolate Greene within the party. 

But they did not do that. And in the year since her appearance at a white supremacist gathering, she’s risen through the ranks of the House GOP. Or, perhaps more accurately, the rest of the GOP has descended to her level. 

So this week, when Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly called for a “national divorce” between red and blue states, it wasn’t the ravings of some fringe GOP official. It was a call for secession from one of the leading figures in the Republican Party. 

This rhetoric is clearly dangerous. It emboldens violent extremists and the sorts of white supremacists Greene addressed last year who are already clamoring for a civil war that will give way to fascism. For many white nationalists, having a member of Congress endorse secession is an absolute dream come true. 

For the good of our democracy and the safety of our communities, Republicans need to condemn Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bigoted and treasonous rhetoric NOW. 

To state the obvious…

At this point you’re probably asking -- Indivisible, do you really think a party that backed Trump every step of the way, tried to overturn an election, excused a violent insurrection, and empowered Greene with important committee assignments is going to suddenly do the right thing now? 

And the answer is no -- it’s unlikely that the GOP will suddenly reject the extremist MAGA ideology that dominates the party. It’s unlikely that more “moderate” members who spent years pretending they hadn’t seen Trump’s tweets and fled reporters when asked about his latest bigoted remarks are going to grow a spine and speak out now. 

But when we don’t press the issue, we give them a pass. We allow them to wait out the story. We rob their constituents of the important, actionable knowledge that their representative was too craven (or too extreme) to condemn a seditious call for secession. 

So what can we do? 

1. If you have a Republican representative, call them (their voicemails may be full today, so call Monday) and demand they condemn the comments. Call back as many times as you need to in order to get them on record. We'll give you a reminder in the Monday newsletter, if you need it!

2. If your Republican representative refuses to speak out, publicize it. Any member of the US Congress who can’t bring themselves to reject Green’s comments should be forced to own them. So share your member’s response (or lack of response) on social media and be sure to tag them to feel the pressure. You can also use our LTE tool to quickly send a letter to your local paper. 

3. Whether you have a Republican, Democratic, or no voting member of Congress (hi DC Indivisibles), please consider becoming a monthly donor. We need your help to fuel a major campaign over the next two years to expose MAGA extremism and hold Republicans -- especially those who try to portray themselves as moderate -- accountable for the anti-democratic votes they take, the rights they try to strip away, the extremists they empower, and the fascist, white supremacist rhetoric they refuse to condemn. 

More details are coming soon, but this is going to be a significant focus of our work over the next two years, and will involve moments when we need reserve funds on hand to enable us to mobilize quickly. Monthly donations will be critical to our success. 

The past few years have shown that Americans care deeply about preserving our democracy and are moved to act -- within their communities and at the ballot box -- when we shine a light on MAGA extremism and the politicians who embrace it. 

With your help, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. 

In solidarity, 

Indivisible Team