Topline
In a series of social media posts, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., appeared to claim Democrats could “control the weather” after Hurricane Helene ripped through the Southeast, adding to other baseless conspiracy theories promoted by the lawmaker, including her earlier support of the QAnon movement and how space lasers caused forest fires.
The Georgia legislator has previously promoted conspiracy theories, including how space lasers … [+]
Key Facts
Greene, who did not specify who she was speaking about, wrote on X late Thursday: “Yes they control the weather,” adding, “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
In an earlier post, Greene shared a map of counties impacted by Hurricane Helene and an overlay she said indicated their political affiliation, suggesting the image “[shows] how hurricane devastation could affect the election.”
There is “no sound physical hypothesis” supporting claims that humans can alter the strength of hurricanes, tornadoes or “damaging winds in general,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which said it previously researched methods to divert tropical cyclones in the 1960s.
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Tangent
More than 200 people have died, hundreds of others are still missing and more than 650,000 people are without power across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia as of Friday in the week since Hurricane Helene made landfall. The storm is the deadliest hurricane to make landfall in the continental U.S. since Katrina in 2005.
Key Background
In recent years, Greene has faced criticism for her promotion of several conspiracy theories before she took office. A House committee removed Greene in 2021 after online comments resurfaced showing she questioned the events of 9/11, suggested the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School was fabricated and said Democratic leaders in Congress should be executed. In since-deleted Facebook posts, Greene reportedly claimed the Camp Fire that broke out in California in 2018 was caused by lasers fired from space. Greene posited these lasers were powered by “space solar generators” created from an investment from “Rothschild, Inc.” The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said an investigation revealed the fire was caused by electrical transmission lines. Greene has also been criticized for her earlier support of the QAnon movement, which she claimed to have stopped supporting in 2018.
