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Marjorie Taylor Greene (born May 27, 1974) is an American politician, conspiracy theorist, and U.S. Representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district. She has expressed support for the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory in Facebook videos. Greene later attempted to distance herself from conspiracy theories.

Early life

Greene was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, on May 27, 1974. She graduated from South Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, and the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Greene founded, grew, and later sold one of the top CrossFit gyms in the U.S.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020 general election

Greene began her 2020 candidacy in Georgia's 6th congressional district, but shifted her campaign to the 14th district after incumbent Tom Graves announced he would not run for reelection. She ran on the slogan "Save America, Stop Socialism". In the days before the primary election, Facebook took down a Greene video for violating its terms of service. In the video she held an AR-15 style rifle and warned "antifa terrorists" to "stay the hell out of Northwest Georgia".

Greene finished in first place in the primary election and faced John Cowan in the runoff election. Greene defeated Cowan to win the nomination on August 11. Greene was considered an overwhelming favorite to win the seat in the general election, as the 14th typically votes heavily Republican. The 14th has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+27, making it the 10th most Republican district in the nation and the third most Republican district in the Eastern Time Zone. Among Georgia's congressional districts, only the neighboring 9th district is more Republican. Donald Trump carried the 14th with 75 percent of the vote in 2016, his eighth-best performance in the nation. On the day after Greene's runoff victory, Trump tweeted his support for her, describing Greene as a "future Republican Star" who "is strong on everything and never gives up — a real WINNER!"

Greene was initially expected to face Democratic IT specialist Kevin Van Ausdal, but he withdrew from the race on September 11, 2020. This left Greene unopposed for the general election, though the district is so heavily Republican that Van Ausdal would have faced nearly impossible odds had he stayed in the race. Since the 14th's creation in 2012, no Democrat has won more than 30 percent of the vote.

In the general election, Greene won with 74 percent of the vote. Van Audsal, whose name remained on the ballot, took 25 percent. Greene became the second Republican woman to represent Georgia in the House. The first, Karen Handel, was elected to represent the 6th in a special election in 2017, but was defeated for a full term in 2018. Thus, Greene became the first Republican woman elected to a full term from a Georgia district.

Tenure

On her first day in office, Greene wore a face mask onto the House floor reading "Trump Won". During the counting of electoral votes, Greene raised an objection to counting Michigan's electors. However, the objection was not signed by a member of the United States Senate and therefore was invalid.

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

• Freedom Caucus

Political positions

Following her win in the 2020 Republican primary runoff election, Greene asserted on Twitter that "he GOP establishment, the media, & the radical left, spent months & millions of dollars attacking ". She said she intends to continue "pulling the to the right."

Abortion

Greene supports criminalizing abortion. In an August 2020 interview with Fox News, she said she campaigned on, among other issues, opposing abortion. She supports defunding Planned Parenthood.

Guns

Greene participated in a pro-Second Amendment rally in Ringgold, Georgia in September 2020. At the rally, she said she would "always" protect the rights of gun owners and would not vote for any laws making it harder for people to possess guns. During her 2020 election campaign, she said she was giving away an AR-15 style rifle.

Health care

In July 2020, Greene said on Twitter that "children should not wear masks," rejecting recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health professionals. She described restrictions imposed in the United States Capitol in response to the coronavirus pandemic, including face mask requirements, as "Democrat tyrannical control". She opposes any form of mandatory mask-wearing, compulsory vaccination or lockdowns in response to the pandemic. She described mask-wearing "oppressive" on Twitter, prompting a response from the NIAID director, Anthony Fauci who described Greene's stance as "disturbing".

Race and religion

Greene opposes the Black Lives Matter movement and described it as a "radical Marxist" group. In a video, she compared BLM activists to white nationalist participants at the Unite the Right rally which took place in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017.

In a recording obtained by Politico, Greene said that "anyone that is a Muslim that believes in Sharia law does not belong in government." She argued that black Americans "are held slaves to the Democratic Party". Her comments on black people, Muslims and Jews were denounced by Republican House leaders, the head of the party's campaign arm, and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Support for conspiracy theories

Greene supported the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, saying in videos posted in 2017 on Facebook that the theories were "worth listening to". She stated in a video, "There's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it." She wrote 57 articles for the now-defunct conspiracy theory website, American Truth Seekers, including one linking the Democratic Party with child sex, Satanism and the occult. When Greene stood for the House of Representatives in 2020, she distanced herself from the conspiracy theory and rejected the label of "QAnon candidate."

In a 2017 video posted to Facebook, Greene expressed doubt that the perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting acted alone. She also called George Soros, a Jewish businessman and Holocaust survivor, a Nazi. Greene stated that the 2018 midterm elections, in which Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib were elected to Congress, was part of "an Islamic invasion of our government".

In 2018, Greene expressed support for a conspiracy theory that a plane did not hit the Pentagon during the September 11 attacks, saying that "it's odd there's never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon," despite video evidence. She later admitted on Twitter that the 9/11 conspiracy theory is "not correct."

After the first round of voting in the 2020 election, Politico re-released videos published by Greene in which she expressed racist, antisemitic, and Islamophobic views. Greene's support for bigotry and the QAnon conspiracy theory in the videos were condemned, including by Republican Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise.

On September 3, 2020, Greene shared a meme to her Facebook page depicting herself holding an AR-15 style rifle next to a collage of pictures of Democratic congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Greene claimed that it was time for Republicans to "go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced the meme as a "dangerous threat of violence," and Omar demanded that the meme be deleted after claiming that it had already triggered death threats. In response to questions from Forbes about whether the meme was a threat, a spokesperson for the Greene campaign called the suggestion "paranoid and ridiculous" and a "conspiracy theory". Facebook deleted the meme the following day for violating its policies on inciting violence, prompting Greene to claim that Democrats were "trying to cancel me out before I've even taken the oath of office".

Personal life

Since 2002, Greene and her husband, Perry, have owned Taylor Commercial, a construction company based in Alpharetta, Georgia. She has long lived in Alpharetta, which is in the 6th district. While members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent, Greene stated soon after considering a run for the 14th that she intended to move to that district if she ran there. She subsequently bought a home in nearby Paulding County, which is in the 14th. By the time she was sworn in, she had moved to Rome, which is also in the 14th.

References

1. Levin, Sam (November 4, 2020). "QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene wins seat in US House". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
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3. Rodrigo, Chris Mills (November 30, 2020). "Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.-14)". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
4. "Marjorie Taylor Greene: How an Outspoken MAGA Fan Built a Following in a World of Extremists". Southern Poverty Law Center. August 16, 2019. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
5. Dickson, E. J. (August 12, 2020). "Marjorie Taylor Greene, Trump's Favorite QAnon Candidate, Wins Georgia Primary". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
6. ^ Stabile, Angelica (November 9, 2020). "13 GOP women join the House, dominating congressional elections, making history". Fox News. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
7. Stilwell, Don (December 13, 2019). "Marjorie Greene officially shifts campaign to District 14 congressional seat | Georgia News". Marietta Daily Journal. Archived from the original on February 8, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
8. ^ Filbin, Patrick (June 5, 2020). "Facebook deletes Georgia congressional candidate Marjorie Greene's ad". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
9. ^ Kuznia, Rob; Richards, Collette; Griffin, Drew (September 23, 2020). "Congressional candidate's apparent ascent to Congress could be a 'bellwether' for QAnon". CNN. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
10. Evans, Beau (June 10, 2020). "Marjorie Greene, John Cowan likely headed for runoff in Georgia's 14th Congressional District". The Calhoun Times. Capitol Beat News Service. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
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12. "Cook Partisan Voting Index". Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. for the 116th Congress
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16. "Georgia 2020 election results". CNN. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
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23. Filbin, Patrick (September 19, 2020). "Catoosa County welcomes congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene for Second Amendment rally". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
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26. Williams, Jordan (November 14, 2020). "Incoming GOP lawmaker shares video of hotel room workout, citing 'Democrat tyrannical control'". The Hill. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
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34. Relman, Eliza (August 14, 2020). "Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican congressional candidate endorsed by Trump, claimed there's 'no evidence' a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
35. Bade, Rachael; Wagner, John (September 4, 2020). "GOP candidate poses with rifle, says she's targeting 'socialist' congresswomen". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
36. Brewster, Jack (September 3, 2020). "Trump-Backed QAnon Candidate Posts Meme Showing Off Gun And Urging 'Going On The Offense' Against AOC, The Squad". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
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38. "Republican announces bid for Congress". Dunwoody Crier. June 11, 2019. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
39. Wagner, Diane (December 9, 2019). "GOP candidate from outside the district eyeing Graves' Congressional seat". Rome News-Tribune. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
40. Hagen, Lisa; Haxel, Chris (October 22, 2020). "NPR Podcast 'No Compromise' Spotlights America's 'QAnon Candidate'". NPR. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
41. Official member list for 117th Congress

External links

• Campaign website
• Profile at Ballotpedia
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Vote Smart

• 1974 births
• 9/11 conspiracy theorists
• 21st-century American politicians
• 21st-century American women politicians
• American conspiracy theorists
• American gun rights activists
• Anti-vaccination activists
• Antisemitism in the United States
• COVID-19 conspiracy theorists
• Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans
• Living people
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
• Opposition to Islam in the United States
• People from Milledgeville, Georgia
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
• University of Georgia alumni