It’s easy enough for liberals to laugh at Marjorie Taylor Greene, the voice of the most unhinged faction of the Republican party. The onetime QAnon supporter who will always be associated with the immortal concept of “Jewish space lasers.” But inside the Republican party, Greene is no joke. She’s a rising star and has emerged as the kingmaker who ensured that Kevin McCarthy would be House Speaker. McCarthy reportedly told a friend, “I will never leave that woman. I will always take care of her.”

For Greene, the sky might be the limit. As my colleague Chris Lehmann recently reported, she even has hopes of being Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick in 2024. On this episode of The Time of Monsters, I spoke to Chris about Greene’s ascendency and also about another recent column he wrote, on the dubious history of Joe Biden’s new chief of staff, Jeffrey Zients.

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