Poor Stallman

[1/3] https://www.stallman.org/archives/2020-jul-oct.html#4_October_2020_(Supporters_of_QAnon-Supporting_extremist_candidates) -- *[Republican] Megadonors, Freedom Caucus, and CEOs Bankroll QAnon-Supporting, Extremist Candidates.* -- https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2020/10/01/trump-megadonors-freedom-caucus-and-ceos-bankroll-qanon-supporting-extremist-candidates/ -- Trump Megadonors, Freedom Caucus, and CEOs Bankroll QAnon-Supporting, Extremist Candidates -- October 1st, 2020

The FBI labeled the QAnon conspiracy theory a >>411 domestic terrorism threat [ http://archive.is/c5Sy1 ] in May 2019. But that hasn’t prevented members of the House Freedom Caucus, gun rights organizations, and a number of prominent Republican Party donors and business executives from donating to QAnon-friendly congressional candidates. The primary QAnon theory imagines President Donald Trump as a selfless savior waging a secret war against a child sex trafficking ring led by his political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Eventually, Trump will conduct a military takeover and arrest Democrats en masse. The bizarre theories emerged from the related “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory—that a D.C. pizza restaurant was the headquarters of a child trafficking operation run by Clinton and her associate John Podesta. QAnon proponents often assert that John F. Kennedy, Jr. faked his own death in 1999 and is a faithful Trump supporter. The theories have led to real-life crime—by the theorists. A North Carolina man angered by the bogus Pizzagate story drove up to Washington and entered the restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, with an assault rifle that he discharged, for which he was sentenced [ http://archive.is/GqWTr ] to four years in prison. More recently, QAnon adherents have committed kidnappings, murder [ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/21/nyregion/gambino-shooting-anthony-comello-frank-cali.html ], and terrorism.

One QAnon supporter, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is now the Republican nominee in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, and has received campaign donations from the House Freedom Fund and a number of business executives and major GOP funders. Greene has no Democratic challenger, meaning she is guaranteed to become a U.S. representative in 2021. Greene is a corporate executive, a position that has made her quite wealthy. She owns Taylor Construction, a renovation firm that her father founded. Greene’s wealth allowed her to provide nearly $1.4 million for her campaign via donations and loans. During Greene’s short window of national fame, a trove of racist comments, ads, and social media posts [ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/17/house-republicans-condemn-gop-candidate-racist-videos-325579 ] has emerged. She has said that liberal benefactor George Soros, a Holocaust survivor, is a Nazi. She’s stated that Muslims should not be allowed to be members of Congress, saying, “There is an Islamic invasion into our government offices right now.” She calls unemployed people of color lazy and rejects the idea of racial disparities in the U.S. “The most mistreated group of people in the United States today are white males,” Greene concluded in a video. Greene is perhaps the most vocal QAnon backer of the GOP congressional nominees. She recorded a lengthy video, allegedly in November 2017, explaining the main Q conspiracy and clearly endorsing it. “There’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it,” she said.

Other candidates who have expressed favorable views of QAnon clinched GOP nominations in liberal districts and are unlikely to ascend to the House or Senate. And another extremist GOP nominee, anti-Muslim bigot Laura Loomer, has also received support from some of the same business leaders who support QAnon-linked candidates. Loomer’s history of discriminatory statements led companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Lyft, and PayPal to permanently ban her from their platforms. Among other atrocious displays of bigotry [ https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/a-history-of-laura-loomers-stunts-and-islamophobic-comments-11684153 ], Loomer has celebrated the deaths of 2,000 migrants, denounced rideshare services for having Muslim drivers, and was banned from Twitter for harassing Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whom Greene has also attacked. Loomer is a conspiracy theorist but is not associated with the QAnon movement. Trump praised Loomer [ https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/19/trump-laura-loomer-primary-gop/ ] after her primary victory. Many key individual donors to these extremist candidates are also big-time supporters of the president, who often promotes wild conspiracy theories he’s caught wind of from social media, Fox News, or other rightwing media outlets. Trump has made no secret of his support for Greene, calling her as “a future Republican star” on August 12.

Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent. Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up – a real WINNER! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2020

In June, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s spokesperson called some of Greene’s racist statements “appalling.” But McCarthy stayed neutral in Greene’s Republican primary and welcomed her [ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/12/mccarthy-qanon-questions-394439 ] to his caucus after she won an August runoff election, saying she’ll get committee seats. In the last few years, vocal QAnon supporters have shown up at Trump’s numerous campaign rallies sporting T-shirts and signs promoting the conspiracy movement. In turn, the campaign has courted QAnon fanatics, putting its director of press communications on a QAnon program to encourage listeners to attend a Trump Victory Leadership Initiative training. “We’re seeing the Trump campaign tack closely to an almost explicitly QAnon narrative,” Ethan Zuckerman, director of the Center for Civic Media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told [ http://archive.is/5jK4z ] The Washington Post. The Republican Party overall has become more receptive to QAnon, likely recognizing that its adherents have become part of the GOP base, a base that’s increasingly populated by those radicalized by right-wing conspiracies and propaganda, often originating in online message boards and distributed by Fox News and on Facebook. The social media giant has played an important role in QAnon indoctrination, according to tech investor and author Roger McNamee.

“QAnon is turning into an aggregator for standard right-wing talking points, part of their new ‘camouflage’ strategy to decouple conspiracy theories from Q,” tweeted NBC News extremism reporter Ben Collins, after the group elevated a baseless rumor that Joe Biden would be wearing an earpiece at the Sep. 29 presidential debate. Vice President Mike Pence was set to attend a Montana fundraiser in September hosted by a couple that trafficked in QAnon memes, but he withdrew without explanation after media reports. An AP report indicates that the fundraiser was rescheduled or canceled. GOP candidates from the state, Rep. Greg Gianforte, Sen. Steve Daines, and Rep. Matt Rosendale, planned to attend. Republican Party and Trump campaign officials were also on the guest list: Trump fundraiser and the girlfriend of Donald Trump, Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Republican National Committee (RNC) finance chairman Todd Ricketts, and RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks Jr. The couple hosting the event, Carlyn and Michael Borland, has donated $223,000 to Trump Victory—the Trump campaign and RNC’s joint fundraising committee—nearly $6,000 directly to the Trump campaign, and $147,000 to the RNC. “I don’t think it’s surprising to see the GOP cozying up to Q, but at same time they also see it as a mechanism to deliver more power,” Julian Feeld, co-host of the podcast QAnon Anonymous, told CMD.

“I think as they see [Greene’s] approach they go, ‘Well, this is a very powerful woman. She’s built a coalition incredibly fast, she has money to back it, and she’s done a lot of boots-on-the-ground work.'” Regarding GOP leaders initially condemning Greene’s remarks and then welcoming her to the caucus, Feeld said, “I think it’s like they protest and then they check: ‘OK, are people horrified, is this going to work, is QAnon being made a big deal of in the mainstream media, is it going to affect my votes, my base?’ And once they realize it doesn’t, I mean, let’s be honest, they’re Republicans, they’re highly pragmatic people, and so of course they’ve adapted to this like they did to [white supremacist outgoing representative] Steve King. “They just want power, so it’s very simple. It’s not like a moral calculus for them…I think Greene is the rightwing [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] for them. I think she will probably be a presidential candidate at some point.” The House Freedom Fund, a PAC associated with the House Freedom Caucus, has endorsed Greene and directed $227,000 in earmarked contributions to her campaign. Donors can give to Greene and other candidates through the Freedom Fund website, and the fund pays the processing fees.