The cost of defending her right to stand in Georgia
On November 21, less than 24 hours after her personal Twitter account was reinstated, Georgia's most divisive Republican - Marjorie Taylor-Greene - was streaming live to her supporters, in an apparent rant about the 'Death of Free Speech".
Her hour-long rant ended with an appeal to her political supporters for donations via her campaign fundraising website so that she can pay a legal bill amounting to $700,000 in legal fees. The bill was incurred when MTG fought a case brought by various Georgian activists who were trying to block her from standing for reelection based on her alleged involvement in the January 6 insurrection.
She won the case and was reelected by a considerable margin over Democratic challenger Marcus Flowers.
Defending her right to free speech
In the run-up to the midterm elections, Marjorie Taylor-Greene was vocal about the fact that her personal account on Twitter having been banned in January of this year was preventing her ability to campaign, and to raise money for her campaign.
Other affiliates to the Republican party (including pardoned shooter Kyle Rittenhouse) were sympathetic to her cause, and offered their support.
On November 21, Taylor-Greene along with Donald Trump, rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) and other previously banned figures had their accounts reinstated.
It would seem that MTG was keen not to waste any time, and she used her access to get her most controversial messages out to supporters, as well as using the platform to raise money to pay her bills.
Taking up where Trump left off?
Although Donald Trump has been reinstated on Twitter too, he's yet to use his account again, and has suggested that he'll keep using the 'Truth Social' platform as he believes it offers better engagement with his followers. This could be due to the platform being mainly populated with other conservative Republicans who followed Trump when he was banned on Twitter.
Nonetheless, it could be that MTG is in place to use the platform to engage with those sympathetic to the Trump/Taylor-Greene cause. With MTG being hotly rumored to be Trump's running mate after he declared his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, she may well be tasked with getting the message out on Twitter while Trump focuses on Truth Social. Time will tell.
Do you think that politicians should be able to beg their supporters on social media for financial contributions to be able to meet their own bills? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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