In the first days of her run-off election against gun sense champion Rev. Raphael Warnock, unelected Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) has continued to peddle dangerous conspiracy theories. She has undermined democracy, allegedly lined her pockets at the expense of Georgia taxpayers, and tied herself at the hip to extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene.
- Undermining Democracy: Not only has Sen. Kelly Loeffler refused to accept the results of the presidential election in which President-elect Joe Biden soundly defeated President Donald Trump by millions of votes, but she and fellow Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue also called on the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to resign. The Senators offered no specific allegations or evidence whatsoever to back up their claims that he “failed to deliver honest and transparent elections.”
- Lining Her Pockets: A new Salon report alleges that Sen. Loeffler “may have deducted a [private] jet she used on campaign trips, letting the government eat the cost.” This is only the latest allegation of self-dealing against Sen. Loeffler, who has previously been attacked by an array of Republicans and Republican-affiliated groups for trading stocks for profit after attending a Senators-only briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.
- Embracing Conspiracy Theorists: Unelected Sen. Kelly Loeffler received the endorsement of newly-elected Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a conspiracy theorist who has “expressed support for QAnon, the violence-linked conspiracy theory that the FBI has labeled a potential domestic terror threat.” Greene also has a “long-standing friendship” with the leader of an anti-government extremist group and has pushed conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks, the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, and Pizzagate, among others. Greene has also made derisive and misogynist comments regarding gun safety advocates with Moms Demand Action. Read a full report from the Southern Poverty Law Center on Greene’s dangerous ties to extremism here. Greene explained that she was endorsing Loeffler because “she believes a lot of the same things that I believe.”
On Undermining Democracy: “Kelly Loeffler and Donald Trump can’t accept that Georgians rejected their vile brand of hate and extremism, so they’re blaming the refs and undermining our democracy,” said Sharmaine Brown, a volunteer with the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We spoke loud and clear – but as usual, what voters want doesn’t matter to Sen. Loeffler.”
On Lining Her Pockets: “Whether it’s to line her own pockets or those of her corporate allies, Kelly Loeffler has proven that she’ll put herself and her well-heeled friends before everyday Georgians,” said Adrienne Penake, a volunteer with the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We need a senator who will put us first, who’ll fight to keep us safe from coronavirus and gun violence instead of fighting for corporate profits – and that’s Rev. Warnock.”
On Embracing Conspiracy Theorists: “Who Senator Loeffler’s friends are says a lot about her,” said Courtney Spriggs, a volunteer with the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action. “She’s cozied up to gun extremists and conspiracy theorists who’d rather tear down our democracy than respect the will of Georgia voters – and come January 5, we’ll let her know just what we think about that.”
More than 1,500 people in Georgia die every year from gun violence. More information on gun violence in Georgia is available here, and more information on gun violence in the U.S. is available here.