On the campaign trail with Marjorie Taylor Greene

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - With 435 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives, it can be hard for members of Congress to distinguish themselves from their colleagues. to stand out. Not so with Marjorie Taylor Greene. The first-term Republican from Georgia’s 14th Congressional District is a one-woman headline-making machine.

She’s bucked Washington decorum, heckling President Biden during the State of the Union address.

She’s butted heads with reporters.

She’s become a regular target of late-night TV joke writers.

Greene attracts attention and then basks in it.

“I have been tested. I am proven. and I have stood for the things we believe in,” she tells a diner full of constituents in Rome.

CBS46 was invited to accompany the lawmaker as she toured the 14th District.

The good folks at Linda’s Place gave her a round of applause before she’d even had breakfast. Voters there said they’re ready to elect Greene to a second term.

RELATED: GEORGIA’S MAY PRIMARY: A look at who’s running in the big races

One man tells us, “I feel like she’s represented our party. And I like the fact that she’s a go-getter, and she doesn’t waiver.”

Another voter, a woman said, “She stands for blue-collar America, and she’s doing exactly what we are sending her to Washington to do.”

The congresswoman made several stops, waving to drivers in Dallas, and talking to small business owners in Rome, Trion and Lafayette.

It was a whirlwind tour of northwest Georgia that included a stop at the Anthony Rec Center in Rome where the Congresswoman cast her ballot on what was the first day of early voting.

Greene is facing several challengers; Republican and Democrat.

But Greene clearly enjoys a challenge and never misses a chance to burnish her image as a fighter as we learned when we asked her about a new report from the Anti-Defamation League documenting a 133% rise in antisemitic incidents in Georgia, including in Greene’s 14th District.

We wanted to know if she was worried that some of her past statements, considered offensive by many Jewish people, could inadvertently be contributing to the problem.

“No, I am not contributing. You’re lying about me,” she said. “You don’t even know what my words were.”

When we showed Greene her own Facebook post, claiming the Rothschild investment firm used space lasers to start wildfires in California, she didn’t back down.

“This was your post, under your name and you’re talking about the Rothschild family, which has been at the center of antisemitic conspiracies since the 19th century,” we said.

“I did not know that. I have no idea. That was what? 20-what,” she asked, referring to the year of her post.

“2018,” we responded. She said it was posted before she entered politics.

While her supporters were dismissive, “We don’t care” one of them told me, one constituent did care.

And he approached her at one of her campaign stops to let her know. “You have said disparaging things against the Jewish community, you suggested a space laser, you are disrespecting the United States Congress and you are a shame,” he said.

The man told us he’s a life-long Republican who doesn’t recognize Greene’s brand of Republicanism.

“Ronald Reagan is spinning in his grave to know there are people that claim to be Republican and are sympathizing with Vladimir Putin. It is despicable,” he said.

The Congresswoman’s last stop was Catoosa County where Republicans young and old took to the stage. They echoed the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen and said that Republicans who aren’t sufficiently on board with that, need to be voted out.

Republicans here are charting a new path for their party and they make no apologies for it. 5 rows back from Greene on the campaign bus, we shouted a final question.

“What’s your end game? Where are you going with this? How long do you want to stay in Congress and what challenge would you like to have next?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” says Greene. “That’s a really hard question to answer. I haven’t looked at a long-term plan. Right now, I just care about representing Georgia’s 14th District.”

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW

Copyright 2022 WGCL. All rights reserved.