Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former key political ally of Donald Trump, said she was being targeted by a wave of threats after the US president lashed out at her on social media.
The 51-year-old Republican congresswoman had previously been a standard-bearer of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, but the president on Friday announced he was withdrawing all support for "'Wacky' Marjorie", referring to Greene as a "ranting lunatic".
He continued his criticism on Saturday with two more social media posts, calling her a "Lightweight Congresswoman", "Traitor" and a "disgrace" to the Republican Party.
Greene said later on X that she was "being contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world."
"Aggressive rhetoric attacking me has historically led to death threats and multiple convictions of men who were radicalized by the same type (of) rhetoric being directed at me right now," Greene said. "This time by the President of the United States."
Why did Trump split with Marjorie Taylor Greene?
The high-profile rupture came after Greene in recent weeks has distanced herself from the president, as he faces growing criticism over US cost of living concerns and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The dispute also marks an extraordinary rift in the MAGA movement a year before US midterm elections.
Until recently a die-hard Trump supporter, Greene has broken with the president on a host of issues. Trump expressed frustration with her for the first time on Monday, saying she had "lost her way".
Greene's sudden shift has prompted speculation that she is lining up for her own presidential bid in 2028, although she has dismissed that as "baseless gossip".
Perhaps the most sensitive area of criticism has been Greene's position on the Epstein scandal, which ensnared Trump again in recent days with the release of a new trove of emails.
After becoming a leading voice calling for justice for victims of the notorious sex offender over the summer, Greene this week was one of a few MAGA rebels who backed a push to vote on demanding the public release of files relating to the Epstein probe.
In her Saturday morning post on X, she again touched on the Epstein scandal.
"As a woman I take threats from men seriously," Greene said. "I now have a small understanding of the fear and pressure the women, who are victims of Jeffrey Epstein and his cabal, must feel."
Trump has called the furore over Epstein, who died in a jail cell in 2019, a hoax pushed by Democrats.
He suggested in his Truth Social post that conservative voters in Greene's district might consider a primary challenger and that he would support the right candidate against her in next year's congressional election.
Online backlash from Trump supporters is not unusual. Right-wing influencers and conservative media personalities have become a potent online force in amplifying talking points and false claims, and attempting to discredit Trump's rivals.
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