‘Reject’ QAnon Or Be ‘Consumed’ By It, Sasse Tells Republicans In Wake Of Capitol Riot
Topline
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) blasted GOP lawmakers who had walked a tightrope and tacitly endorsed QAnon in an op-ed in The Atlantic on Saturday, warning that the Republican Party risks destruction if it doesn’t repudiate the crackpot conspiracy theory.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 15: U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) looks on during the fourth day of the … [+]
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Key Facts
Pointing to the role QAnon played in sparking the violence that struck the Capitol on January 6, Sasse said the riot was a “blossoming of a rotten seed that took root in the Republican Party some time ago.”
When Trump leaves office in just a few days, the Republican Party “faces a choice,” Sasse says: “Dedicate ourselves to defending the Constitution and perpetuating our best American institutions and traditions” or be a “party of conspiracy theories, cable-news fantasies, and the ruin that comes with them.
Sasse called freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who previously promoted QAnon, “cuckoo” and slammed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for not banishing her from the party.
McCarthy “failed the leadership test” by sitting “on the sidelines,” Sasse added.
Greene and McCarthy did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Sunday.
Key Background
Few Republicans have disavowed QAnon in as harsh terms as Sasse. In August, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), one of the 10 GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump on Wednesday, became the first Republican to sound the alarm about the conspiracy theory. “The president hasn’t fully denounced it or denounced it at all,” Kinzinger said then. “Now it’s time for leaders to come out and denounce it.”
Surprising Fact
Trump has yet to forcefully disavow QAnon and has emboldened adherents of the conspiracy theory numerous times. Along with retweeting QAnon Twitter accounts hundreds of times, he praised believers during a press conference in August, saying “I heard that these are people that love our country.”
Crucial Quote
“If the GOP is to have a future outside the fever dreams of internet trolls, we have to call out falsehoods and conspiracy theories unequivocally,” Sasse added. “We have to repudiate people who peddle those lies.”
Chief Critic
Along with Kinzinger, former GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman called for rooting QAnon from the party before leaving Congress earlier this month after losing his primary last year. In an interview with Forbes on December 29, days before the Capitol takeover, Riggleman compared QAnon to the dogma embraced by ISIS terrorists, saying the conspiracy theory “radicalizes individuals” in a similar way. Riggleman blasted Trump for egging on the conspiracy theorists, stating he has a “tendency for batshit crazy.”
Further Reading
QAnon Is Destroying the GOP From Within (The Atlantic)
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