Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a discredited conspiracy theorist Member of Congress, raised $3.2 million in the first three months of 2021. This was the fifth largest Congressional amount raised so far in 2021, demonstrating her impact in the Republican party.
Greene raised these funds by pandering to extremists on Gab, a social media platform favored by neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and supporters of the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory movement. According to her campaign and content she just posted to Gab, the average donation size was just $32, with donations from over 100,000 supporters.
To shine a light on this gathering threat to our democracy, the American Jewish Congress released “90 Days Of White Supremacist Radicalization: Extremism’s Evolution In A Post-January 6th America.” This report takes a deep dive into Greene’s use of social media in the third chapter entitled “The New White Supremacist Politics.”
We reviewed 100 randomly selected Gab accounts belonging to Greene’s supporters and found:
- 58% shared her posts or other content promoting her.
- 54% posted or shared conspiracy theories about the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
- 54% posted or shared conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 pandemic.
- 42% posted or shared white supremacy content.
- 42% posted or shared material that involved either QAnon conspiracy theories or came from QAnon supporting accounts.
As documented in the report, amongst these Gab supporters, we observed many examples of incitement to violence, content promoting insurrection, content sharing the “white genocide” conspiracy theory found in the 2019 Christchurch attackers’ terrorist manifesto, a call for targeted assassinations, and a post that called for Democrats to be hung.
Yesterday Greene wrote to these Gab supporters, “Thank you for all of your generous support during my first three months in Congress. I have a big announcement coming this week! Stay Tuned.” The post, like so much of what Greene does on Gab, went viral and received over 5,000 likes and 1,235 reposts. Since January 2021, when she joined Gab, Greene’s Gab account has gained over 267,300 followers.
Greene’s use of Gab and subsequent fundraising numbers demonstrate that the political appetite for conspiracy theories, antisemitism, and extremist content continues to grow. Greene is successfully building a political base of extremism and demonstrating that it has financial power behind it. As a result, both her and the extremism she represents will gain significant influence in the Republican party. This is a true warning shot for American democracy.
