Kinzinger. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted Wednesday that QAnon has "no place in Congress," a day after Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal QAnon conspiracy theorist, won the Republican nomination in a congressional runoff election in Georgia.
Why it matters: Few, if any, Republican members of Congress have publicly condemned the far-right conspiracy, which baselessly claims that a secret cabal of sex traffickers within the "deep state" is waging a war against President Trump.
- The conspiracy movement's influence has grown within the party in recent years. Greene is one of at least 11 GOP candidates for Congress who have openly supported or defended the QAnon movement or some of its tenets.
- President Trump on Wednesday tweeted congratulations to Greene after her victory in Georgia's deep-red 14th district. He has retweeted QAnon accounts on numerous occasions.
What they're saying: "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." Kirzinger tweeted.
- "Could be Russian propaganda or a basement dweller. Regardless, no place in Congress for these conspiracies."
Trump campaign official Matt Wolking responded to Kinzinger on Wednesday afternoon, tweeting: "When will Rep. Kinzinger condemn the Steele Dossier fabrications and conspiracy theories pushed by Democrats? That actually WAS Russian propaganda."
Go deeper: Read more about QAnon's 2020 resurgence