EL PASO, TX - APRIL 25: A protestor holds a  sign referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory outside the El Paso County Court House during a rally calling for the reopening of El Paso and Texas on April 25, 2020 in El Paso, Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has said he is consulting with medical professionals to create a plan to safely reopen the Texas and is expected to make an announcement in the coming days. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/Getty Images)
What is QAnon? CNN's John Avlon explains
03:08 - Source: CNN

Editor’s Note: SE Cupp is a CNN political commentator and the host of “SE Cupp Unfiltered.” The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers. View more opinion articles on CNN.

CNN  — 

The lead sentence in an article in The New York Times on Tuesday was a bizarre, if fitting, encapsulation of the state of American politics today: “Conspiracy theorists won a major victory on Tuesday….”

SE Cupp

That’s because a Republican supporter of QAnon, a fringe group of quacks who believe President Donald Trump is under constant attack by deep-state, satanic child molesters, won her House primary runoff election in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the country’s reddest, where she is likely to triumph in November.

Welcome to the United States Congress, Q.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is not alone in her quackery. There are currently more than a dozen QAnon supporters running for Congress, the Times reports.

Nor is Greene’s QAnon support even her worst quality. In June, she was rebuked by some members of the Republican Party for racist remarks about Blacks, Jews and Muslims on Facebook.

The corruption and co-opting of the Republican Party by conspiracy theorists, anti-science promoters, White nationalists and kooks is becoming more total with every passing day.

As CNN K-FILE reporter Andrew Kaczynski pointed out in a Tweet on Wednesday:

“The nominee for the Pentagon #3 said Obama was a Muslim terrorist.

The nominee to head OPM (Office of Personnel Management) said John Podesta took part in Satanic rituals.

The nominee for head of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) said there wasn’t a hole in the Ozone layer.”

This is all in no small part thanks to President Trump, the Conspiracy Theorist in Chief.

From his promotion of Obama birtherism, to his continued and baseless belief that Covid-19 will miraculously disappear, to his praise for a doctor who’s pushed theories on alien DNA and “demon sperm,” he’s worked very hard to normalize what would otherwise be known as utter lunacy. And it’s had the intended effect down-ballot.

In some ways, it’s as if the inmates are now running the asylum. Trump effectively turned the GOP into a padded-cell madhouse where up could be down, left could be right and blue could be green…if he decided so. And now the fringiest adherents have swiped the keys from the few remaining guards that were hoping to keep the place in order.

That Trump has been able to do this falls squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Party, which allows these baseless theories to run rampant and unchecked – and has refused to prevent its party from being transformed into a safe haven for quacks, bigots and ignoramuses.

The GOP’s tacit and in many cases explicit support of these kinds of candidates and political appointees – not to mention the President – has stripped all meaning away from the party name.

Stay up to date on the latest opinion, analysis and conversations through social media. Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion and follow us @CNNOpinion on Twitter. We welcome your ideas and comments.

Being a Republican today is more synonymous with White nationalism, anti-science, and conspiracy theories than any clear set of principles or policies. So long as you suck up to Trump, today’s “Republican” doesn’t have to really believe in or support anything else.

So, to echo the President, “Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene….”

I have no doubt, she will absolutely be one.