New polling from Morning Consult/Politico shows that the Georgia Republican is quickly gaining voter recognition, as Ocasio-Cortez did after the progressive New Yorker was elected to the House during the blue wave in the 2018 midterms.
The number of voters who have an opinion on Greene has more than doubled since she won her runoff primary election in August. The latest survey, conducted at the end of January, found 46 percent of registered voters have an opinion about her—up 21 percent since a poll conducted in August ahead of the Republican Convention.
Comparably, Ocasio-Cortez went from 38 percent to 52 percent, an increase of 14 percent, in the same time frame two years ago, between August 2018 and January 2019.
Both Greene and Ocasio-Cortez saw the biggest identification boost in their opposing parties. Democrats with an opinion of Greene are up 29 percent, compared with a 12 percent increase among Republicans. In 2019, Republicans with views of Ocasio-Cortez grew 20 percent, compared with a 12 percent bump in Democrats.
Greene has becoming increasingly recognizable to voters, especially after she provoked controversy last week when old social media posts resurfaced showing the Republican promoting conspiracy theories that the Parkland, Florida, school shooting was a “false flag” and that “Jewish space lasers” started a California wildfire.
The new poll also shows that Greene is disliked by a third of the electorate. She remains a divisive figure even among Republican voters, with about 1 in 5 ranking her as favorable and unfavorable.
The backlash has put the GOP in a tough spot, with congressional Democrats demanding that she be removed from her assignments on the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had a two-hour meeting with Greene on Tuesday night about her remarks. The meeting comes as Democrats are threatening to force a vote to remove her from the committees, which will force every single House Republican to go on the record about Greene.
Republicans have expressed concern that if the Democrats are successful in removing Greene, it could set a dangerous precedent in which one party dictates the other’s assignment sets.
Greene has attempted to do some damage control, scrubbing her social media and contacting a mother of one of the 17 people killed in the Parkland shooting to tell her she didn’t believe it was a hoax. The congresswoman also tweeted about meeting with former President Donald Trump, suggesting that she has his support.
Newsweek reached out to Greene for comment but did not hear back before publication.