Controversial GOP Georgia candidate attempts to distance from QAnon

Controversial GOP House candidate Marjorie Greene (Ga.) is attempting to distance herself from the QAnon conspiracy theory, asserting during an interview with Fox News on Friday that videos of her praising “Q” don’t represent her current stance on the matter.

Greene — who also came under fire after videos emerged of her making bigoted remarks and publicly questioning whether a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, which she later walked back — won the Republican primary runoff in Georgia’s 14th District this week.

“No, I don’t [consider myself a QAnon candidate]. I think that’s been the media’s characterization of me. Never once during my campaign did I ever speak about QAnon or Q,” she told Fox News.

“My campaign message the entire time was ‘Save America, stop socialism,’ and that’s the message I believe in,” she continued. “I believe very much in America-first policies, and I’m a big supporter and defender of President Trump.”

The Georgia Republican went on to allege the media is misrepresenting her campaign by highlighting her previous comments about the conspiracy theory, which claims that government officials and celebrities are controlling the government and other powerful institutions in an attempt to undermine President Trump.

“I don’t expect a lot of the left-leaning media to change their stance,” she said. “I think they’re going to continue to attack me because they actually do see me as someone who’s unapologetically conservative. And I won’t back down on my beliefs and my values.”

While Greene previously posted videos on YouTube talking about QAnon — including one where she said, “Q is a patriot” — the candidate said she no longer associates with it after finding “misinformation.”

“I was just one of those people, just like millions of other Americans, that just started looking at other information,” she told the network. “And so, yeah, there was a time there for a while that I had read about Q, posted about it, talked about it, which is some of these videos you’ve seen come out. But once I started finding misinformation, I decided that I would choose another path.”

Greene’s past inflammatory remarks have sparked concern within the GOP, with multiple Republican lawmakers voicing concerns her past comments on Blacks, Jews and Muslims and embrace of QAnon could have a negative effect on the party’s image and potentially drag down other Republican candidates in tight races.

“QAnon is a fabrication.  This ‘insider’ has predicted so much incorrectly (but people don’t remember PAST predictions) so now has switched to vague generalities.  Could be Russian propaganda or a basement dweller.  Regardless, no place in Congress for these conspiracies,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted Wednesday.