Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday became the first open supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory to win a seat in Congress.
Although Greene has earned strong praise from Trump, her ascent has worried some top GOP officials who unsuccessfully sought to back her primary opponent, The Washington Post reported in August.
On Tuesday though, Greene, 46, cruised to victory in Georgia’s reliably conservative 14th Congressional District, beating her Democratic opponent, IT specialist Kevin Van Ausdal, by more than 225,000 votes, the Georgia secretary of state reported.
Van Ausdal dropped out of the race in early September, citing “personal and family reasons” following a 31-day campaign surrounded by heavy harassment and threats.
Greene, who co-owns a commercial construction and renovation company with her husband, has been unambiguous about her support for QAnon. In the past, she has posted videos elevating QAnon and praising “Q,” its anonymous leader.
“Q is a patriot. He is someone that very much loves his country, and he’s on the same page as us, and he is very pro-Trump,” she said in a 2017 video posted to YouTube that has since been made private.
In that same video, she talks about an “awakening” that will reveal deep corruption and encourage Americans to support Trump.
“I’m very excited about that now there’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it,” she said.
QAnon’s conspiracy theory began spreading in the fall of 2017 when “Q,” a self-proclaimed anonymous government insider who supporters believe has access to sensitive military information, posted on Internet message boards. Law enforcement has linked the pro-Trump philosophy to numerous violent incidents, including two killings, a kidnapping, a church’s vandalism and a heavily armed standoff near the Hoover Dam.
Trump, though, has embraced her. She earned a shout out from the president in August after defeating her primary opponent, who had been endorsed by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House minority whip. The next day, Trump called her a “future Republican Star” who was “strong on everything and never gives up — a real WINNER!”
In addition to her support of QAnon, she has been accused of making threats to Democrats in Congress. In early September, Greene posted a photoshopped picture of herself holding a rifle alongside photos of Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), The Post reported. The caption of the photo posted to Facebook read: “Squad’s worst nightmare.”
Omar urged Facebook to take down the post, while Tlaib took to Twitter to request the picture’s removal, calling it a “post threatening women’s lives.”
Greene later requested donations through the Republicans’ online fundraising tool WinRed by using an expletive to describe House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), writing that “we’re going to kick that b---- out of Congress.”
On another occasion, Greene was caught on camera calling Black voters “slaves” to the Democratic Party and comparing the election of Muslim lawmakers to an “Islamic invasion of the U.S. government.” She has also called George Soros, the liberal Jewish donor and Holocaust survivor, a “Nazi himself trying to continue what was not finished.” In a video first reported by Politico over the summer, Greene denied inequality exists. “Guess what? Slavery is over. … Black people have equal rights,” she said.
Greene and her campaign manager did not respond to a request from The Post for comment early Wednesday.
At a Tuesday evening campaign victory party, Greene told her supporters that she would hold Pelosi and the "squad” accountable.
“I will fight harder than anyone else to defend your freedoms and hold them accountable,” Greene said.