Politics

How Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, promoter of QAnon’s baseless theories, rose with support from key Republicans

By Michael Kranish, Reis Thebault and Stephanie McCrummen
Jan. 30, 2021 at 6:20 p.m. EST

As Marjorie Taylor Greene entered a runoff last year to be the Republican nominee for a U.S. House seat in Georgia, her opponent sounded the alarm. He warned top party officials that she had made several dangerous, baseless claims, and that she would tear apart the GOP if she won. ... But Greene’s widely reported comments about the radical ideology of QAnon and other matters had not stopped a coterie of top Republicans from urging her to run for the seat representing a deeply conservative district in north Georgia, and then issuing fervent endorsements.

Greene was “exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left,” declared Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Debbie Meadows, who ran an influential political action committee and whose husband, Mark Meadows, became Trump’s chief of staff, gushed, “We cannot wait to welcome her to Congress.” ... Greene trounced neurosurgeon John Cowan in the runoff and easily won in the fall — paving the way for her emergence as a symbol of the radicalized ideology that believes in QAnon, which inspired the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and has enveloped much of the Republican Party while sparking fears of additional violence.

While some Republicans have tried to portray Greene as a political anomaly, her ascent demonstrates the extent to which key party leaders embraced her and propelled her to victory despite her well-documented history of spreading false claims and violent rhetoric. Critical to Greene’s success was the early intervention on her behalf by some of the party’s most staunchly pro-Trump figures and Greene’s ability to tap into the far-right online world where baseless claims thrive. ... “She really got ingratiated with the House Freedom Caucus, and they’re the ones who really spring-boarded her,” Cowan told The Washington Post. “They were clearly picking their favorite from very early on.”

{snip}

With her $1 million loan to her campaign, Greene was able to run an extensive television ad campaign. Her campaign paid $656,000 for advertising, polling, media buys and other services to a company called Neighborhood Research and Media, according to Federal Election Commission reports. ... The company is run by Richard K. Shafton, who was the subject of an investigation in 2018 by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which reported on his social media posts. The newspaper said the posts included: the NAACP is “the Black KKK, only more violent and dangerous,” “After #Ferguson, only a fool would start, finance or insure a business in a black neighborhood” and “We honor Dr. King’s memory by naming the worst most drug and crime invested street in every town after him. #ItIsWhatItIs.”

{snip}

Alice Crites, Zach Purser Brown and Anu Narayanswamy contributed to this report.

Michael Kranish
Michael Kranish is a national political investigative reporter for The Washington Post. He is the co-author of The Post’s biography "Trump Revealed," as well as biographies of John F. Kerry and Mitt Romney. He previously was the deputy chief of the Boston Globe's Washington bureau. Follow https://twitter.com/PostKranish

Reis Thebault
Reis Thebault is a reporter covering national and breaking news. He has worked on the local desks of the Boston Globe and the Columbus Dispatch. He joined The Washington Post in June 2018. Follow https://twitter.com/reisthebault

Stephanie McCrummen
Stephanie McCrummen is a national enterprise reporter covering an array of subjects for The Washington Post. Previously, she was the paper's East Africa bureau chief based in Nairobi. She has also reported from Egypt, Iraq and Mexico, among other places. She joined The Post as a Metro reporter in 2004. Follow https://twitter.com/mccrummenWaPo