Like the Left, the Right has a fringe problem. Except now, certain fringe actors are becoming mainstream, and President Trump shares part of the blame.
First, the president endorsed Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiracy theorist who won her primary in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District earlier this month. Greene has voiced support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, held to by a bizarre strain of Trump supporters who believe the president is engaged in an underground war against a pedophile cabal in the Democratic Party, Hollywood, and the Deep State. They even believe Trump plans to mass-arrest his political opponents, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and imprison them in Guantanamo Bay. According to some QAnon believers, that’s where John McCain, who died of cancer in 2018, is now.
Seriously.
This theory isn’t just bizarre. It’s also dangerous. The FBI considers QAnon a potential domestic terror threat, and it’s not hard to see why. Last year, a radical QAnon supporter gunned down the boss of the Gambino crime family, and other supporters have plotted at least two child abductions. Now, one of this theory’s advocates is about to become a U.S. congresswoman.
Greene’s embrace of QAnon is hardly the most controversial thing about her. She has openly questioned whether Muslims should be allowed to hold public office, referred to Middle Eastern immigration as an “Islamic invasion,” argued that African Americans are “slaves” to the Democratic Party, and she espoused a 9/11 conspiracy theory that suggests the federal government was responsible for the terrorist attacks that took thousands of lives. Put simply, this is not a person anyone should want representing them, let alone a party that advocates for religious freedom, equality, and accountability.
But Trump embraced Greene anyway, calling her a “future Republican star”:
Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent. Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up – a real WINNER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2020
Soon after, other members of the Republican Party followed suit. A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Chris Pack, refused to denounce Greene’s conspiracy theorizing and suggested that Greene has only been criticized because she’s a Republican. And when Rep. Adam Kinzinger denounced Greene’s embrace of QAnon, a senior Trump campaign official attacked him.
When will @RepKinzinger condemn the Steele Dossier fabrications and conspiracy theories pushed by Democrats? That actually WAS Russian propaganda. https://t.co/NzVjbkkk8l
— Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) August 12, 2020
But it didn’t stop there. Trump also praised far-right activist Laura Loomer on Wednesday after she won a primary election in Florida. Loomer, like Greene, has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric. In 2017, she bragged on Twitter about being a “#ProudIslamophobe.” She has also called Muslims “savages” and referred to Islam as a “cancer.” She was banned from Uber and Lyft in 2017 for tweeting, “Someone needs to create a non-Islamic version of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver.”
And yet:
Big win Matt! https://t.co/gpIg4dQ6FN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020
This is just another example of how loyalty outweighs substance in the Trump era. The president is more than willing to ignore the many problems Greene and Loomer bring to the table because they support him.
This is inexcusable, and the rest of the GOP ought to do what Trump cannot and make it clear that Greene and Loomer do not represent the Republican Party or its principles. That’s what a serious political party would do.
