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QAnon conspiracy proponent wins Republican primary for Oregon Senate seat

Trump supporters displaying QAnon posters at a 2018 rally in Florida. Photo: Thomas O'Neill/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Jo Rae Perkins, who says she believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory, beat out three other candidates to win Oregon's Republican Senate primary on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The victory illustrates how a once-fringe conspiracy theory that sprung up on niche message boards like 8chan has become more mainstream in certain far-right circles.

  • "Q" is an anonymous internet user who claims to be a top government official with security clearance, waging war against the "deep state" in service to President Trump.
  • He drops "bread crumbs," deeply vague hints, for "bakers," the users who rush to decipher them.
  • All of this leads up to "the storm," which is when the QAnon community believes Trump will purge the government of criminals and "deep state" operatives.

What she's saying: "I stand with President Trump. I stand with Q and the team. Thank you Anons, and thank you patriots. And together, we can save our republic," Perkins said in a video posted on Twitter Tuesday.

  • She also used one of QAnon's primary rallying cries, holding up a sticker in the process: "Where we go one, we go all."
  • Perkins' campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The big picture: Perkins will face off against Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley in November. Cook Political Report rates the race as "solid Democrat."

Go deeper

Jacob Knutson
Aug 25, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Conspiracy-backing GOP candidate says she was invited to White House for RNC

Photo via "Unite America First"

Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican nominee for Georgia's 14th Congressional District, said in a tweet on Tuesday that President Trump has invited her to the White House to attend his acceptance speech on Thursday evening.

Why it matters: Greene has repeatedly made offensive remarks about Black people, Jews and Muslims in Facebook videos, and she has publicly supported the QAnon movement and other far-right conspiracy theories.

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Jonathan Swan
49 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Off the Rails

Episode 5: The secret CIA plan

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer, Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. This Axios series takes you inside the collapse of a president.

Episode 5: Trump vs. Gina — The president becomes increasingly rash and devises a plan to tamper with the nation's intelligence command.

In his final weeks in office, after losing the election to Joe Biden, President Donald Trump embarked on a vengeful exit strategy that included a hasty and ill-thought-out plan to jam up CIA Director Gina Haspel by firing her top deputy and replacing him with a protege of Republican Congressman Devin Nunes.

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Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Health: CDC director defends agency's response to pandemic — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Empire State Building among hundreds to light up in Biden inauguration coronavirus tribute.
  3. Vaccine: Fauci: 100 million doses in 100 days is "absolutely" doable.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again.
  5. Tech: Kids' screen time sees a big increase.
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