As the Trump administration plays tough over a purported migrant caravan heading toward the border between the United States and Mexico, former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is saying the quiet part out loud. Her charge is simple: Republicans repeatedly reach for caravan stories when an election approaches.

The latest episode began Sunday, when the Department of Homeland Security responded to a post alleging a “huge migrant caravan headed towards the US southern border.” DHS posted a montage showing former Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins tackling other players.

The department also posted a photo of Dawkins with the caption, “The border is closed.” The football themed messaging brought a swift response from the NFL, which requested that DHS remove the video.

Greene responded by directly questioning both the claim and its timing. Rather than joining the familiar Republican panic parade, she argued that the story was being used to frighten voters before an election.

“We have not seen a caravan headed to the U.S. southern border in several years, why now?” Greene wrote on X. “Oh yeah, there is an election coming and the GOP needs to scare you into voting because nothing else is working.”

That is a striking accusation from someone who was once a major promoter of the same bigoted ideas and policies. Greene has since undergone a major public break with Trump and the MAGA movement, putting her in the unusual position of exposing one of the right’s favorite campaign tricks.

Her criticism also fits a pattern described across multiple election cycles. For years, Republicans have promoted reports about caravans, with those claims conveniently surfacing during election years.

In 2018, the right embraced the caravan storyline with a major push from Fox News. That frenzy arrived just a few weeks before Democrats won control of the House in the midterm elections.

Republicans returned to the same playbook in 2022. That time, the party pushed caravan stories in an effort to undercut the Biden administration.

Now the Trump administration is again promoting a tough border message around another purported caravan. Greene’s response strips away the dramatic packaging and identifies what she sees as the electoral purpose behind the latest round of alarm.

The timing is especially notable because Republicans are in deep political trouble this year. Voters have largely turned against them, while even Republican insiders have admitted that a blue wave is likely to wipe out GOP congressional majorities.

Instead of responding to voters’ concerns, Republicans have returned to old fearmongering tactics involving communism and caravans. The strategy offers plenty of manufactured drama while avoiding the political damage associated with the party’s own policies.

Those policies include Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran, both cited as sources of damage Republicans have failed to undo. With those liabilities hanging over the party, the caravan narrative gives the GOP another familiar object for its election season scare campaign.

The DHS posts show how aggressively the administration is selling that message, even borrowing footage of Dawkins for a theatrical display of border enforcement. The NFL’s request that the department remove the montage added another complication to an already transparent stunt.

Greene’s comments cut through that spectacle with an unusually blunt diagnosis from a former loyal promoter of MAGA politics. According to her, the caravan uproar is not some fresh revelation but another attempt to scare people into voting Republican when the party’s other appeals are failing.

The broader record presented here supports her criticism of the timing. Republicans pushed caravans before the 2018 midterms, revived them against the Biden administration in 2022, and are leaning on the theme again while facing the possibility of losing their congressional majorities.

For a party confronting widespread voter resistance, the old panic button appears to be getting another workout. This time, however, Greene is not helping Republicans press it, and she is publicly telling voters why she believes they are doing it.