Georgia Republican Marjorie Greene says she's not a QAnon candidate
Greene said she didn’t make QAnon part of her campaign for Georgia’s 14th Congressional district because she found 'misinformation' with 'Q.' Greene won the GOP primary on Aug. 11, 2020.
Marjorie Greene, the Georgia Republican at the center of a political firestorm this week, rejected the notion she's a QAnon candidate in an interview Friday with Fox News and said her "Q"-supporting videos are in her past and don't represent her priorities for Congress.
"No, it doesn't represent me," Greene said of the "QAnon candidate" label she's garnered in the national media.
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"But I don't expect a lot of the left-leaning media to change their stance," she said. "I think they're going to continue to attack me because they actually do see me as someone who's unapologetically conservative. And I won't back down on my beliefs and my values."
Supporters stand with construction executive Marjorie Taylor Greene, right, as she's on the phone, late Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Rome, Ga. Greene, criticized for promoting racist videos and adamantly supporting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, won the GOP nomination for northwest Georgia's 14th Congressional District. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Greene won the Republican congressional run-off Tuesday in the red northwest 14th Congressional District, a victory that all but guarantees Greene will advance in November to become a congresswoman.
Greene said her campaign was never about QAnon, the far-right U.S. conspiracy theory popular among supporters of President Trump that claims he is being targeted by deep state operators, yet someone identified as "Q" is pulling back the curtain on their activities. But she has posted videos talking up the fringe theory. She said she got curious about QAnon during the Russia collusion investigation into Trump but has since found "misinformation" and chose another outlet by running for political office.
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"I was just one of those people, just like millions of other Americans, that just started looking at other information," Greene said. "And so, yeah, there was a time there for a while that I had read about Q, posted about it, talked about it, which is some of these videos you've seen come out. But once I started finding misinformation, I decided that I would choose another path."
One example of "misinformation" she cited was that the 2018 midterm elections were "safe" for Republicans when in reality Democrats made huge gains and retook the House.
But that's hardly the only piece of information QAnon detractors take issue with. And Greene's past videos espousing QAnon theories as "worth listening to" and declaring "Q is a patriot" have caused alarm -- even among GOP politicians.
Supporters take photos with construction executive Marjorie Taylor Greene, background right, late Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Rome, Ga. Greene won the GOP nomination for northwest Georgia's 14th Congressional District. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
"Qanon is a fabrication," Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. tweeted. "This 'insider' has predicted so much incorrectly (but people don’t remember PAST predictions) so now has switched to vague generalities."
“If she’s the future of the Republican party, we’re in trouble,” freshman Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-Va., told Politico. “QAnon is the mental gonorrhea of conspiracy theories. It’s disgusting and you want to get rid of it as fast as possible.”
Greene claims some Republicans in Washington may be misinformed on what her election was really about.
"This wasn't part of my campaign," Greene said. "It hasn't been anything I've talked about for quite a long time now. What I'm interested in is saving Americans from socialism. That means putting American policies first, and that means stopping the radical left, and their Democrat socialist policies that they want to pass that would wreck our economy, kill our jobs and take away our freedoms. Those are the things I'm working on."
But the candidate has been called to confront other past statements, including once saying there's no evidence a plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11.
Recently, Greene admitted on Twitter that the 9/11 conspiracy theory was "not correct." Asked whether there were other past statements or theories that she'd like to correct, Greene said her videos were designed to question topics and she's most focused on getting to work for her district.
"A lot of the things I talked about were things that people were questioning. So oftentimes, in these videos, I was talking about these topics and in ways of just discussing them," Greene said. "I'm one of those people -- I have no problem talking about an issue, asking questions and bringing things up."
Politico reported that in Facebook Live videos, Greene also suggested that Muslims do not belong in government; thinks Black people “are held slaves to the Democratic Party”; called George Soros, a Jewish Democratic megadonor, a Nazi; and said she would feel “proud” to see a Confederate monument if she were Black because it symbolizes progress made since the Civil War.
Greene said those “little sound bites” from past videos were “not my full explanation” and were “chosen to try to create a narrative about me that's not true.”
Some GOP leaders condemned Greene earlier in the campaign for such past unearthed statements.
Greene said that since she's won the primary she's had "great conversations with Kevin McCarthy and many other leaders in Congress." Most notably, she's gotten support from Trump, who called her on election night to congratulate her and later tweeted that she's a "future Republican star."
While Greene on Friday distanced herself from "Q," Trump declined to answer a question about his views on QAnon during a White House briefing.
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"She won by a lot," Trump said of Greene's primary win Tuesday. "She was very popular. She comes from a great state. She had a tremendous victory so absolutely I did congratulate her."
Greene laid out some of her priorities for Congress: stopping socialism, defunding Planned Parenthood, protecting law enforcement, declaring Antifa a domestic terrorist group, and tackling the massive debt.
"I will be a very proud conservative American woman and I will be fighting back against the squad," Greene said of the group of progressive freshman lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. "They need to be stopped. These are radical women who have embraced socialism and some of them even communism, and they are trying to tear down our country."
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Greene had a memorable victory night speech Tuesday when she called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a derogatory term for women. Democrats have demanded Greene apologize, but she refused.
"Yes, I did mean it when I said I wanted to kick that b---- out of Congress," Greene said. "I know that's not a nice word, but impeaching an innocent president is also not a nice thing to do."
Greene will face Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal on the November ballot and is widely expected to win in the safe Republican district.
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