A retiring Republican lawmaker says the extremist members of his party could make it difficult for the GOP to govern if they retake control of the House of Representatives in November with a slim majority.
“It will be very hard to govern for Republicans if we’re under 230, knowing that we’ve got the MTG element that’s really not a part of a governing majority,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Upton was referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a far-right conspiracy theorist who’s spoken at a white nationalist event and has a history of spreading racist and anti-Semitic talking points.
While a party can control the House with 218 seats, Upton said the GOP would need at least 230 in order to cancel out Greene and those like her, who he noted were very popular in their home districts.
“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd asked Upton what that said about the Republican Party today.
“Troubled waters, I guess you could say,” he replied.
Upton was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. He announced his retirement earlier this month after he was drawn into a new congressional district that would put him in a primary race with a GOP lawmaker endorsed by Trump.
Upton, who was first elected in 1986, is a co-vice chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Last year, Greene reportedly tried to launch a caucus to promote “uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” She backed off after criticism from within her own party.
Although Greene lost her committee assignments due to her calls for violence against fellow lawmakers, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has already promised she will get them back if the GOP regains control in November.
See Todd’s full conversation with Upton below: