Two Republicans lost their Senate seats in Georgia this week, but there is still someone in the Georgia congressional delegation far more deserving of losing their seat, regardless of how one feels about former Sen. David Perdue and soon-to-be-former Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
If Republicans are smart, they will start looking for a replacement for Republican House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as soon as possible. Greene has been, and will continue to be, a disaster for the GOP.
In the past, Greene has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory — which bears a significant amount of responsibility for the Capitol Hill riot on Wednesday. Some people incorrectly believe the deep state stole the 2020 election from President Trump, and they weren’t happy about it. For example, the infamous shirtless man with the furry horned hat and a painted face in viral photos is a prominent QAnon supporter from Arizona. The FBI labeled QAnon a terrorism threat, and as we saw on Wednesday, there’s a good reason for that. Four people died, protesters injured police officers, and the Capitol building was damaged.
Greene has called “Q” (the unknown supposed leader of the movement) a “patriot” and said that he is “worth listening to.” Rhetorically, she also uses QAnon phrases, such as the time she said, “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.”
It’s not the only conspiracy theory she has promoted either. Greene also questions the official account of Sept. 11. In a video in 2018, she said, “We had witnessed 9/11, the terrorist attack in New York and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania and the so-called plane that crashed into the Pentagon. It’s odd there’s never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon. But anyways, I won’t — I’m not going to dive into the 9/11 conspiracy. But 9/11 had happened. Our country was very much into a war.”
For whatever reason, Loeffler thought it would be a good idea to do campaign events with Greene and tout an endorsement from her. It shouldn’t need to be said, but politicians should stay far away from conspiracy theorists. Their ideas are not only false but can result in death and violence.
Greene also still denies the results of the 2020 presidential election and objected to them on Wednesday night. Granted, the president and a majority of House Republicans objected as well, choosing blind loyalty to Trump over evidence.
Greene is a bad look for the Republican Party and gives both Democrats and the media plenty of fodder to delegitimize the conservative movement. There is no point in waiting to try to find someone to primary Greene and take her out. If Republicans can find someone halfway decent to run against her, they should start fundraising behind that one person immediately to give them the best shot possible of beating Greene.
The good thing about Greene’s district, Georgia’s 14th District, is that it’s one of the reddest in the country at R+27, according to Cook PVI. All Republicans need to worry about is winning the primary. The general election is no issue, so they could run someone as right-wing as they want on the issues — as long as they’re not a conspiracy theorist.
Whether it’s a state legislator, member of county government, or someone who works in the private sector is irrelevant. Ideally, they could find someone to bring innovative ideas to the Republican Party and Congress. But frankly, almost anyone is better than Greene. The Republicans just need to pick someone, get behind them, oust Greene, and move on with their safe red seat.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
