Fellow GOP right-wing firebrand Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado had to be separated during an argument earlier this year, according to a report.
While they may be seen by some as two sides of the same MAGA coin among fierce Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump, Politico reported that, in private, Republicans say that Ms Boebert despises being connected to Ms Greene.
The outlet also noted that Ms Boebert is considered to be more of a team player in the party, while both of them are disdained by Democrats for their aggressive rhetoric.
At a gathering of the House Freedom Caucus board of directors earlier this year not far from the Capitol in downtown Washington, DC, they reportedly got into an argument over Ms Greene’s appearance at an event organized by a white nationalist.
The spat became so ferocious that a least one bystander grew worried that the conflict might have become more than verbal if another member of the board hadn’t stepped in to calm down the situation, Politico reported.
Three people confirmed the incident to the outlet. Caucus members mostly avoided publically criticising Ms Greene and Arizona Representative Paul Gosar, and instead aimed their fire at event organizer Nick Fuentes.
The argument shows the larger conflict within the House Freedom Caucus, which was founded in 2015 with the aim of dragging Republican leadership to the right, and later became a Trump support squad.
There have been conflicts within the caucus concerning how to respond to the tapes showing that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy privately suggested that Mr Trump resign in the wake of the Capitol riot and if the group should move back towards its beginnings of advocating for a smaller state.
“We need to reevaluate where we’re heading,” Representative Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee told Politico. “I like the principles that the Freedom Caucus was founded on, but I think that if we can’t work together as a group and push our ideas in a civil manner, then we’re not going to be very effective.”
The outlet notes that the party has become less constricted by policy ideas, moving in the Trump era in a more populist and nationalist direction. Some members of the caucus believe that if the group doesn’t return to its beginnings, they might see their impact decrease as the GOP appear poised to take back the House in November’s midterms.
Some of the members who were present when the group was founded have indicated that they would prefer if the caucus would use policy fights to push the GOP further to the right and possibly form partnerships with party leaders who would rather focus on criticising Joe Biden than fight intra-party battles.
“We were supposed to be thoughtful conservative renegades – cooperating with leadership when that best served conservative goals, and opposing leadership when that was necessary toward the same end,” former South Carolina Representative Mick Mulvaney told Politico. He was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus who went on to serve as Mr Trump’s acting chief of staff and budget director.
“We were not designed to be just obstructionists,” he added. “We were not designed to be an extreme outrage machine.”
“Their identity really kind of got shook up in the Trump years,” Alabama Representative Mike Rogers, who’s not a member of the caucus, recently said. “The party is different.”
“When we’re back in the majority, they’re going to go right back to their bad habits,” he added. “At least the militant wing of that group will become obstructionist again.”
The Independent has reached out to Reps Boebert and Greene for comment.
