Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s history of spreading bizarre conspiracy theories, from space lasers to Frazzledrip
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s election to Congress came after years of the Republican spreading conspiracy theories on social media.
By Rachel E. Greenspan
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s election to Congress came after she spread conspiracy theories on social media for years.
The Georgia Republican, elected in November, has supported the QAnon conspiracy theory and associated falsehoods, claimed that mass shootings were “false flag” events, and made other outlandish allegations. In addition to espousing beliefs in these conspiracy theories, Greene showed support in 2018 and 2019 for the execution of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, CNN reported.
House Democrats have filed a resolution to strip Greene of committee assignments, NBC News reported.
Former president Donald Trump sang Greene’s praises, writing in an August tweet that she was a “future Republican Star” and “strong on everything.”
When asked for comment regarding all of Greene’s claims that are referenced in this article, a spokesperson told Insider, “Aren’t you in the ‘news’ business? None of this is new.”
Here’s a list of false claims Greene has spread online.
The QAnon conspiracy theory
Greene’s apparent belief in QAnon, a baseless far-right conspiracy theory alleging Trump was fighting a “deep state” cabal of pedophiles, was widely reported ahead of her election to Congress. QAnon has been linked to several crimes and the movement played a huge role in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
In a 2017 YouTube video, Greene called “Q,” the anonymous figure whose cryptic messages on 8kun (formerly 8chan) lead the QAnon movement, a “patriot.”
Greene said “Q” is “someone that very much loves his country, and he’s on the same page as us, and he is very pro-Trump.” The last message from “Q” came on December 8, and many people have suspected that Jim Watkins, the owner of 8kun, is “Q” himself, or at least associated with the figure.
Read More: The QAnon conspiracy theory and a stew of misinformation fueled the insurrection at the Capitol
“There’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it,” Greene said in the video.
Many of the other conspiracy theories Greene has espoused are linked to the QAnon community.
The Pizzagate conspiracy theory
CNN reported that in a 2017 blog post, Greene shared a link to a far-right website that suggested “Pizzagate,” the 2016 conspiracy theory alleging that Clinton and aides ran a child-trafficking ring out of a DC pizza restaurant, was real.
“Shockingly, the website tells about information that was only whispered about and called conspiracy theories,” Greene wrote, according to CNN.
“Pizzagate” was the precurser to QAnon, which originated in 2017.
Frazzledrip
Greene has expressed belief in the existence of “Frazzledrip,” a fictitious video that conspiracy theorists claim shows Hillary Clinton and aide Huma Abedin sexually assault a child before slicing off her face and wearing it as a mask.
The vulgar conspiracy theory spread on YouTube in 2018, as the Washington Post reported. YouTube videos claiming that “Frazzledrip” existed were viewed millions of times that year, the Post found. “Frazzledrip” folklore remains popular in the QAnon community.
Greene made Facebook comments about “Frazzledrip,” which were recently reported by left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters for America (MMFA), in May 2018.
Greene posted a picture of the mother of a slain New York Police Department detective, Miosotis Familia, and a commenter said that Familia had “watched a horrific video” allegedly seized from the laptop of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, Abedin’s ex-husband. The commenter said that the video showed Abedin and Clinton “filleting” a child’s face, according to screenshots obtained by MMFA.
Greene liked the comment, and replied, “Yes Familia.” In a subsequent comment, she said, “Most people honestly don’t know so much. The msm disinformation warfare has won for too long!”
Denials that 9/11 and mass shootings took place
Greene has baselessly questioned whether the deadly shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, actually took place.
In several 2018 Facebook comments, Greene agreed with other users that the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was a “false flag” event. MMFA reported the comments, which have since been deleted from Greene’s Facebook page.
When another commenter in 2018 claimed that “none of the School shootings were real,” the September 11, 2001, attacks were staged by the US government, and that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was staged, Greene agreed.
“That is all true,” she said in a comment, according to screenshots reported by MMFA.
All of those claims are false and have been debunked.
A recently resurfaced video from earlier that year shows Greene accosting David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, who was 17 at the time, in Washington, DC. Hogg was in town to advocate for gun control at the Capitol. Greene followed the teen down the street, calling him a “coward,” just weeks after the shooting at his high school killed 17 people.
In a Facebook post later that year, Greene claimed that Pelosi “tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that ‘we need another school shooting’ in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control.”
Linda Beigel Schulman, the mother of one of the Parkland shooting victims, told MSNBC in an interview aired Sunday that she spoke to Greene on the phone, and the congresswoman admitted to believing that the shootings had actually taken place.
Schulman said Greene refused to join her on MSNBC to publicly make the admission. “For Congresswoman Greene, politics trumps truth, because lies and conspiracy theories are more important to her than honesty,” Schulman said.
The conspiracy theory that space lasers controlled by a Jewish family caused wildfires
Perhaps the most shocking of all of Greene’s conspiracy theories is the idea that lasers in space had caused the deadly Camp Fire in California in the fall of 2018. The Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in California’s history.
QAnon believers and other conspiracy theorists popularized the space laser theory, and Greene posted about it on Facebook, MMFA found.
Greene said she believed the Rothschild investment bank was involved in the creation of the lasers. “Could that cause a fire? Hmmm, I don’t know,” she said of laser beams in space. “I hope not! That wouldn’t look so good for PG&E, Rothschild Inc, Solaren or Jerry Brown who sure does seem fond of PG&E.”
Rothschild is controlled by the Rothschild family, a wealthy Jewish family from Germany that has for centuries been the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Such claims play a huge role in QAnon, which is partly based on anti-Semitic tropes.
Read More: QAnon builds on centuries of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that put Jewish people at risk
The conspiracy theory that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been replaced by a body double
In February 2019, while Greene was a conservative commentator, she was a guest on a streaming show on a pro-Trump website, and a viewer called in to suggest that a recent public appearance of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was actually a body double. “I do not believe that was Ruth. I don’t think so,” Greene responded, MMFA first reported.
The claim that Justice Ginsburg had previously died and was replaced by a body double was hugely popular in the QAnon community in the summer of 2019, as Travis View, the co-host host of the “QAnon Anonymous” podcast, has reported.
The false claim that Trump won the 2020 presidential election
Greene was one of numerous Republican lawmakers to deny the validity of President Joe Biden’s election win, even wearing a “TRUMP WON” mask on the House floor on January 3.
She has repeatedly tweeted about her belief that Trump won the election and encouraged her constituents to hold onto that idea. In a December 23 tweet, she said, “The people re-elected Donald Trump. Now, it’s time to #FightForTrump.” She shared a petition supporting the Stop the Steal movement, which inspired the January 6 rally that led to the deadly Capitol riot.
Claims that Trump won the election sparked the frenzy that led to the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. More than 200 people have already been arrested on charges related to the insurrection.
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