2 QAnon supporters win seats in House
WASHINGTON — QAnon is heading to Congress, as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a supporter of the baseless and complicated proTrump conspiracy theory, won a House seat in Georgia, and Lauren Boebert claimed a House seat in Colorado.
While those wins Tuesday night are the first by Republican candidates who publicly backed the wideranging delusion centered on allegations of a “deep state” undermining President Trump and liberals trafficking children, they will join a GOP conference that may already host some “Qcurious” members.
Greene and Boebert were among at least a dozen Republican congressional candidates who had endorsed or given credence to QAnon’s unfounded belief that Trump is the last line of defense against a cabal of childmolesting Democrats who seek to dominate world power.
Rhetoric of QAnon adherents is steeped in racist and antiSemitic tropes and has led to violence. An early supporter opened fire at D. C. pizza joint Comet Ping Pong; in April, authorities arrested a woman who traveled from Illinois to New York and threatened to kill former Vice President Joe Biden.
The unfounded QAnon conspiracy theories emerged in late 2017, when an anonymous person or persons with the username “Q” began posting on message boards alleging evidence of a variety of worldwide criminal conspiracies involving top Democrats and their “deepstate” allies. Q claims to have a security clearance that would give inside access to info about such plots.
Online conservative political circles and platforms have fueled the explosion in followers of Q and spread the central idea that prominent Democrats are the source of deeprooted corruption and criminal activity, with Trump cast as a heroic figure trying to expose it all.
Greene’s win was no surprise, as she was running unopposed in Georgia’s deepred 14th District.
“Q is a patriot, we know that for sure,” Greene said in a video from 2017, in which she recapped some of Q’s predictions and why she supports them.
“There’s a onceinalifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satanworshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it,” she said, referring to Trump.
Trump congratulated Greene after her primary win in August, calling her a “future Republican Star” who is “strong on everything.”
In western Colorado, Boebert, a gunrights activist, expressed support for QAnon but does not describe herself as a “follower” of the anonymous leaders she’s praised.
Asked in a May interview about the Q theory, Boebert said, “I hope that this is real. It only means America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values, and that’s what I am for.”