Moderate Republicans fretted over its potential to hurt their party’s image, while more conservative lawmakers carefully sought to harness its grass-roots energy. That is a description of the Tea Party movement, which emerged in 2009 from the right-wing fringes and proceeded to become a major, enduring force in American conservatism. But it could just as easily be a description of QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that has emerged as a possible inheritor to the Tea Party’s mantle as the most potent grass-roots force in right-wing politics. Ms. Greene has publicly supported QAnon, appearing on QAnon shows and espousing the movement’s unfounded belief that President Trump is on the verge of breaking up a shadowy cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles. Other QAnon-affiliated candidates have won primaries at the federal and state level, though few in districts as conservative as Ms. Greene’s.

Source: New York Times August 13, 2020 17:05 UTC