Far-right conspiracy theorist on track for seat in US Congress
WASHINGTON She promotes the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and calls white men the most oppressed group in the US, but President Donald Trump praised Ms Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday as a "future Republican star" and she is all but sure to enter Congress after winning a primary contest.
"Congratulations," Mr Trump tweeted. "Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up - a real WINNER!"
Primary races for congressional seats rarely get attention, let alone presidential fanfare.
But Ms Greene's easy victory on Tuesday over a more mainstream Republican in Georgia illustrates the radicalisation of US politics less than 90 days before Mr Trump faces off against Democrat Joe Biden for the White House.
Ms Greene backs the increasingly popular conspiracy theory that Mr Trump and a mysterious entity called Q are fighting a satanic, deep state, paedophile cult that secretly controls much of the world.
And her primary victory in a Republican safe seat means the Q fantasy will most likely soon have a voice in Congress, leaving Republican leaders floundering - seemingly unsure whether to condemn Ms Greene or, as Mr Trump has done, bow to her political momentum.
Ms Greene offered a taste of what is to come at her victory party, where she lashed out at both her own party elite and the Democrats, promising to be the left's "worst nightmare".
Using language that stands out even in the age of Trump - a fan of crude public insults - she reportedly called Mrs Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, "anti-American".
"We're going to kick that b**** out of Congress," she said, according to a correspondent with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who was also among journalists told to leave the celebration event.
Ms Greene had more controversial things to say.
"The most mistreated group of people in the United States today are white males," she says in one of a number of videos.
"Guess what? Slavery is over" and "black people have equal rights," she also says, rejecting that racism is a problem.
When two Muslim women Democrats entered Congress in the 2018 midterms, Ms Greene called it "an Islamic invasion into our government offices".
- AFP
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