ATLANTA – A woman who has been blasted for racist videos and support for the QAnon collusion theory is facing a neurosurgeon who is campaigning on his experience to improve the health care system during Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff for an open US House chair representing northwest Georgia.
The race could just indicate how far candidates are capable of pushing the boundaries of political rhetoric in the age of President Donald Trump before risking the backwardness of voters.
Businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has garnered nationwide attention for a series of videos and posts on social media where she expresses racist views and supports the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon. This has led some Republican officials to condemn their campaign and raise the profile of opponent John Cowan.
Both Cowan and Greene have positioned themselves as supportive supporters of Trump, by pushing anti-abortion, pro-gun and pro-border wall messages. But while Cowan took a more traditional approach to his campaign, Greene has found a loyal following – and controversy – online with a continuous stream of video chats and social messages.
Greene led Republican primary by a wide margin in the first June 9, but failed to secure enough votes to win the nomination immediately.
Shortly after that race, a series of videos were discovered in which Greene expressed racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim views. In the videos, she complains about an ‘Islamic invasion’ in government offices, claims that Black and Spanish men are being held by ‘bans and drug dealing’, and rejects an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory against billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who is Jewish is, worked together with the Nazis.
Greene is also part of a growing list of candidates who have voiced support for QAnon, a conspiracy theory popular with some Trump supporters.
She has responded to criticism of her rhetoric by blowing up “the fake news media” and “the DC swamp”.
Cowan reacted strongly to Greene’s comments, saying in a recent interview that she “deserves her own Youtube channel, not a seat in Congress.”
He says he would use his experience as a doctor to improve the health care system and he would push to repeal the Affordable Care Act, although he supports maintaining protection for existing conditions.
Greene in turn attacked Cowan as not conservative enough, giving him a RINO branding, a ridiculous acronym that stands for Republican In Name Only.
Georgia’s 14th Congress District stretches from the edge of the Atlanta subway to the for the most part rural northwest corner of the state.
The winner of Tuesday’s runoff will face Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal in November. Republican rep. Tom Graves, who did not seek reelection, won the seat in 2018 with more than 76% of the vote.
