Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican representative of Georgia’s 14th district, was elected to congress in 2020. She has expressed support for QAnon, an antisemitic conspiracy theory, in the past, and her social media history is rife with antisemitism, conspiracy theories, Islamophobia, and so, so much more.
Recently, a 2018 Facebook post from Greene was unearthed in which she suggested that Jewish space lasers, funded by the wealthy British Jewish banking family the Rothschilds, were the cause of deadly California wildfires. The accusation is so ridiculous that Jewish people took to social media to joke about the concept of “Jewish space lasers,” but it points to something truly nefarious: a member of the House of Representatives is unabashedly antisemitic, and she’s not apologizing.
We’re gonna break down all (the known) conspiracy beliefs that Greene holds, which largely overlap with QAnon but also dabble in other conspiracies, like the idea that deadly mass shootings — Sandy Hook and Parkland, for example — were planned events by Democrats trying to enact gun laws. It’s hard to even fathom these conspiracies, but they are Greene’s beliefs — and the beliefs of many, many Americans.
Let’s break them down, shall we?
First, what is QAnon?
QAnon is a conspiracy theory that alleges, falsely, there exists a cabal of pedophiles, run by Democrats, plotting to take down Trump. You can read a whole explainer on QAnon and its specific brand of antisemitism here. Embedded in QAnon ideology are multiple antisemitic tropes, including that of the blood libel, that the Rothschilds control the world, that Jews control Hollywood and the media, that Jews did 9/11, and so many more.
We’ll break all of these down with regard to things Greene has said, but it’s important to know that many of these are part of the broader QAnon conspiracy theories — which Greene has expressed support for multiple times.
Yikes!
Yikes is right.
So what is up with the Jewish space lasers?
What is up with the Jewish space lasers?! As much as we want it to be funny, it’s actually just terrifying.
In a 2018 Facebook post, first reported by Media Matters, Greene espoused an antisemitic conspiracy theory with regard to the 2018 Camp Fire. To back up: The Camp Fire was a November 2018 California wildfire that “burned a total of 153,336 acres, destroying 18,804 structures and resulting in 85 civilian fatalities and several firefighter injuries. The Camp Fire is the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history.” After an investigation, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection found that the fire was caused by electrical transmission lines operated by the electric company Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E).
According to Media Matters, “Conspiracy theorists have pushed other explanations for the Camp Fire, especially on social media. One theory, which has been promoted by QAnon followers, falsely posits that a nefarious entity used laser beams or a similar instrument to start the fire for financial profit or to clear space for California’s high-speed rail system.” Greene posted this conspiracy theory on her Facebook account in 2018, speculating that “there are too many coincidences to ignore” and that “a vice chairman at Rothschild Inc, international investment banking firm” was involved.
The tl;dr of her post is that Rothschild-funded Jewish space lasers caused a deadly California fire.
Can you explain the Rothschild conspiracy theories?
Absolutely. The Rothschilds, a wealthy Jewish British banking family, sit at the center of numerous antisemitic conspiracies. It all goes back to something called the “Rothschild Pamphlet,” published in 1846 and written by “Satan.” (A pseudonym, his real name was Georges Dairnvaell.) In this pamphlet, Dairnvaell argues that Nathan Rothschild was on the battlefield at Waterloo, realized the French were gonna be defeated, returned to Britain, and made 20 million francs on the stock exchange. It’s all been proven false, but the idea that the Rothschilds profit off of war has persisted.
Many conspiracy theorists think that the Bank of England is owned by the Rothschilds or that the Rothschild family owns most of the world’s wealth. (Super false!) The Rothschilds are alleged to be behind the Illuminati, the New World Order, the British Royal Family, and now, a “cabal” at the heart of QAnon theories.
Is this Marjorie Taylor Greene’s first foray into antisemitism?
I think you know the answer to that! No, it’s not. In 2018, she shared an anti-refugee video that claimed “[A]n unholy alliance of leftists, capitalists and Zionist supremacists has schemed to promote immigration and miscegenation, with the deliberate aim of breeding us out of existence in our own homelands.” This is an antisemitic theory is called the “Great Replacement.”
What is the Great Replacement theory?
As JTA explains, this theory “alleges that Jews are orchestrating the mass migration of nonwhite immigrants into predominantly white countries in order to wipe out the populations there. It says those supporting the refugees are using ‘immigrant pawns’ to commit ‘the biggest genocide in human history.'”
Believers of the Great Replacement theory include the gunman who murdered 11 people at the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in November 2018. The Tree of Life Synagogue was attacked, in part, because of their work with HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and their support of refugees. In his last post before the massacre, the murderer wrote, “HIAS likes to bring invaders that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
In recent years, this theory has been tied to Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros. Ahead of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Trump and the conservative media ecosystem were hyping up a “caravan” of migrants ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, leading many to blame George Soros. This actually led to an attempted murder of Soros — on October 23, 2018, a bomb was found at his home in New York. Indeed, a 2018 Facebook post from Greene accused Soros and the Rothschild family of plotting against Trump.
Who is George Soros? And what has Greene said about him?
“George Soros says dark forces have been awakened by Trump’s win. I don’t think so,” Marjorie Taylor Greene said in one video. “George Soros is the piece of crap that turned in — he’s a Jew — he turned in his own people over to the Nazis.”
Greene also called Soros “the Nazi himself trying to continue what was not finished.”
This is false, and has been proven false again and again. Born George Schwartz in Budapest in 1930, his family eventually changed their surname to Soros in an effort to be less notably Jewish. When the Nazis occupied Hungary in 1944, Soros and his family survived by purchasing documents that identified them as Christian. Soros hid as the “godson” of a Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture employee. He did not turn any Jews over to the Nazis.
We’re not gonna get into it all here, but go here to read more about Soros and the origin of antisemitic conspiracy theories about him. Tl;dr: Since Soros is a left-leaning Jewish donor in the U.S. (and Europe), many conspiracies basically see Soros as an evil force controlling the world economy. There’s also that antisemitic conspiracy that Soros is paying migrants to enter Europe and America.
QAnon followers — including Greene — believe a key member of the “cabal” of Democrats abducting children is Soros himself. Members of QAnon Facebook groups were calling for the execution of Soros during the election.
Some other Soros conspiracy theories include the idea that he paid Black Lives Matter protestors, and that he somehow “bankrolled” the Parkland students protesting for gun control. Even Donald Trump espoused Soros conspiracy theories. Essentially, this whole post could be about Soros, but we unfortunately have to move along to Greene’s other conspiracy beliefs.
What are some of Greene’s other beliefs?
They’re not just antisemitic — she is also deeply Islamophobic and racist, too!
Greene thinks Muslims don’t belong in government, saying, “There is an Islamic invasion into our government offices right now.” She thinks Black people “are held slaves to the Democratic Party,” and that Black people should feel “proud” to see Confederate monuments. She’s implied Black women have it easier because of affirmative action, has compared Black Lives Matter protestors to the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, and so on and so on. “The most mistreated group of people in the United States today are white males,” Greene said in one video. You get the idea.
What about Greene’s thoughts on mass tragedies?
Greene believes that the mass shootings at Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Las Vegas were staged. She wrote in 2018 that she had been “told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that ‘we need another school shooting’ in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control.” (This is false.) She’s harassed Parkland survivor David Hogg; she calls him a “coward” and accuses him of “attacking our Second Amendment,” and tells him she has a concealed carry permit. She also says his activism was funded by Soros. (Always back to Soros.)
She agreed with a Facebook commentator who wrote 9/11 “was done by our own gov[ernment]” and that “none of the school shootings [Sandy Hook and Parkland] were real or done by the ones who were supposedly arrested for them.” She also claimed that there’s no evidence a plane hit the Pentagon on 9/11.
“Assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school — what could they be thinking?” Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said regarding Greene’s placement on the House Committee on Education and Labor. “Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing? It’s absolutely appalling, and I think the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children.”
What about her involvement with the Capitol mob?
On January 4, 2021, Greene showed up to the House of Representatives GOP freshman photo wearing a “Stop the Steal” mask. The day before, at her swearing-in ceremony on January 3, she wore a “TRUMP WON” mask. She was one of the key lawmakers encouraging the Capitol insurrection, propagating the false theory that Trump won the 2020 election. On January 6, Greene spoke at the rally ahead of the attempted coup, calling the day Republicans’ “1776 moment.”
We now know that involved in the mob were a large range of conspiracy theorists (including QAnon adherents), extremist ideologies, and white supremacists. No surprise that Greene supported them: She has posed for photos with former Ku Klux Klan leader Chester Doles, who describes Greene as a “friend.” (Greene dismissed the photos as “fake news,” though you can clearly see her.) She’s also praised the militia movement, saying “when our government gets to a place where it’s a tyrannical government, we’re guaranteed the right to bear arms and make a state militia so that they do not run us over.” Members of a Three Percenters group, an anti-government militia founded in response to the election of President Obama who were also involved in the insurrection, provided security for a Greene campaign event. (Her spokesman said, “Those people were at one event independently of Congresswoman Greene,” yet she can be seen smiling and posing with them.)
Honestly, we could go on and on, but we’ll stop here for now.
TL;DR
Marjorie Taylor Greene is an elected U.S. Congresswomen who consistently espouses dangerous antisemitic, Islamophobic, and racist ideologies. Not great.
