On Nov. 3, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene was elected to Congress, representing Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the country’s most conservative districts. Greene is a known supporter of QAnon, a far-right conspiracy that has seemed to gain momentum in many Trump supporters. 

Greene graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and later, she and her husband owned a commercial construction company, Taylor Commercial. Before her political ambitions, Greene wrote blog posts on conspiracy theories, including “Pizzagate,” the conspiracy that claims some Democratic Party leaders are running a human-trafficking and pedophilia ring. “Pizzagate” has since been debunked by a wide range of organizations. In 2019, Greene published a post on Facebook demanding the impeachment of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for crimes of treason and noted that the crime is punishable by death. 

Greene made it clear in her campaign that she is adamant on stopping socialism, finishing the border wall between the U.S and Mexico, stopping gun control and ending abortion. The representative-elect is also strongly against mask mandates during the pandemic. 

In June, Greene won the Republican primary by 40% and later the Republican primary runoff in August by 57%. She ran unopposed in the general election after her opponent unofficially withdrew and won by 74%.

“Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent,” President Donald Trump said in a Tweet in August. “Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up – a real WINNER!” 

The awareness of QAnon among Americans has increased from early 2020 to present. According to a February and March survey from Pew Research, about 23% of U.S. adults said they “have heard or read a lot or a little” about QAnon and 3% said they “have heard a lot” about it. By September, the percentages had increased to 47% and 9%, respectively. In regard to those who have heard the conspiracy theories, 57% said QAnon is a “very bad thing” for America, 17% said it is “somewhat bad” and 20% said it is a “somewhat good” or “very good” thing.

QAnon contains multiple sets of conspiracies. The most popularly believed is that Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Trump while also operating a global child-sex trafficking ring. They allege that Trump is fighting against this cabal. Supposed members of this cabal include political figures like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and George Soros, media figures like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres and Tom Hanks and religious figures like Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama. Conspirators also believe the members of the cabal kill and eat their victims to obtain a life-extending chemical from their blood. QAnon supporters believe that Trump was hired by top military officials in 2016 in order to break up the criminal conspiracy, end its control over the media and bring its members to justice.

QAnon originated from “Q Clearance Patriot,” a user on the website 4chan, where members can post anonymously with minimal regulation. The user claimed to be a high-ranking intelligence officer with access to classified information regarding Trump’s war with the cabal. The identity of the user, or users, still remains unknown.

“Make no mistake, Q is a patriot,” Greene wrote on the now inactive conservative website American Truth Seekers in 2018. 

“Q” claimed the war will lead to “The Storm” when Trump unveils all the members of the cabal,punishes them for their crimes and brings America back to greatness. For years, “Q” predicted the ways “The Storm” would play out, from the specific days of the mass arrest, the government reports that would unveil the members and their actions and the Republican Party winning multiple seats in the 2018 midterm elections. None of these predictions have come true. 

QAnon has been labeled by the FBI as a domestic terrorist threat due to its potential to spur extremist violence. 

An internal investigation by Facebook has discovered thousands of group QAnon pages with millions of members and followers. People join QAnon because they believe it is a small community and a source of entertainment. It has even been compared to video games and a church. Additionally, people have stayed home for the pandemic and have turned to the internet as a way to cope with the boredom of staying at home. 

“In my opinion, QAnon is absolutely ridiculous,” Lillian Styles (’21) said. “QAnon is based on complete untruths and takes publicity away from organizations attempting to help those who are actually victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. Elements of the theory lead people to act in ways that disregard the health of their fellow humans–beliefs about COVID-19 cause many QAnon supporters to discard their masks and cease to social distance–literally putting others’ lives at risk. The group is not one based on fact–it is an ideological cult that lacks any aspect of common sense or decency.”