Earlier this year, Congressional Republicans got rid of one of their biggest embarrassments, Iowa’s far-right white supremacist Congressman Steve King, who conspicuously lost his primary in June, but guess what, they still have plenty to worry about with Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Who is she?
To the consternation of top GOP Congressional leaders such as House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Greene won her primary yesterday against neurosurgeon John Cowan, a firm supporter of Donald Trump, in a deep red Congressional District in northwest Georgia.
Politico had uncovered hours of videos in which Greene called the 2018 election of Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), the first two Muslim women Members of Congress, “an Islamic invasion” of the federal government.
Not only that, Greene described Black people as “slaves to the Democratic Party” who should feel “proud” to see a Confederate monument because it symbolizes progress made since the Civil War (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/11/house-candidate-condemned-for-racist-videos-wins-republican-primary-394008).
Even more noticeable is Greene’s firm embrace of QAnon, a conspiracy theory platform that includes totally unfounded assertions that there is a “deep state” conspiracy against Donald Trump. Included in their claims is the palpably false notion that Hillary Clinton and liberal Hollywood actors are part of an international child sex trafficking ring (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon).
QAnon also has a big supporter in Colorado GOP Congressional candidate Lauren Boebert, who, on June 30, ousted five-term Trump supporter Scott Tipton in Colorado’s sprawling 3rd Congresisonal District. Boebert owns the Shooter Grill in Rifle, in northwest Colorado, where her waitstaff are encouraged to be armed, and she openly defies State rules requiring the wearing of facial masks. Boebert now claims she is not a QAnon supporter any longer, but we assume that’s because she wants to win in November.
So we asked our Chief Congressional Correspondent, associate solitary reporter Melissa Smith, to ask House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and associate solitary reporter Johanna Jones why Trump today tweeted congratulations to Marjorie Taylor Greene (https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-qanon-georgia-donald-trump/index.html).
The answer, my friends, is Blowin’ in the Wind: Donald Trump LOVES conspiracy theories, the more bizarre, the better.