The future congressman has faced national scrutiny for her racist and sectarian statements and support for QAnon, a baseless conspiracy theory rooted in anti-Semitic tropes whose followers believe Donald Trump is secretly fighting against a cabal of Democrats, billionaires and celebrities engaged in child trafficking. The FBI has identified the movement as a potential threat of domestic terrorism and has repeatedly inspired vigilante violence.
In a second round of the primaries in August, Greene clashed with John Cowan, a pro-Trump conservative opposed to abortion rights. Republican officials initially denounced Greene after videos emerged of her making anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and racist statements. The videos, obtained by Politico, appeared to show her arguing that Muslims should be banned from serving in the US government, comparing Black Lives Matter to the Ku Klux Klan and promoting anti-Semitic lies about billionaire financier George Soros.Yet during the primary, Greene’s campaign received support from groups linked to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, the chairman of the board of directors of the prominent conservative think tank Heritage Foundation and many GOP mega-donors.
In an age of disinformation, it is more important than ever that the media communicate election results as clearly and transparently as possible.
The Guardian will use data collected and analyzed by the Associated Press (AP) as a source for when we will release election results for the President, Senate, House races and more. AP has a team of thousands of specialists and correspondents across America who maintain relationships of trust with local officials. This will guide their data-driven assessment of when it’s time to call a race.
There are a number of other highly regarded electoral “decision-making offices” in the US media. They can call races before AP. While the Guardian reports this is happening, we’ll be relying on AP data to make our own final call.
If a contestant declares victory prematurely, we will report that claim, but make it clear that it is not valid. The only measure of victory is a full tally of all the ballots in circulation.
After his victory, the leadership and elected officials of the Republican Party widely adopted Greene. Trump has praised the candidate several times and has consistently refused to denounce QAnon.
Greene was not the only Republican candidate to support QAnon on the election track this year. Angela Stanton King, a GOP congressional candidate and high-profile ally in Trump’s fight to win over black voters, also admitted believing in the baseless conspiracy theory even while denying that she was a QAnon follower. She should lose in her race for the seat once occupied by the late civil rights icon John Lewis.
Media Matters, which tracked misinformation, found 27 candidates on the ballot this month who approved or credited QAnon’s content. Of these, 25 are Republicans and the other two are independents. Dozens more have stood for election this year, the group said.
