Boo Fucking Hoo:
Insurance agent Jo Rae Perkins won the GOP nomination by a landslide earlier this week to run against Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. Part of her voter appeal might be her belief in QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy that claims President Donald Trump is involved in stopping a pedophile network of Satan-worshipping cannibals who have infiltrated every level of government and the mass media.
Republicans, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee and The White House, have so far declined to comment on their new ally, ABC News reported. But Perkins own campaign team attempted to distance its candidate from QAnon on Wednesday, saying in a statement that Perkins “would never describe herself as a follower.”
Perkins didn’t agree with that statement, telling ABC News the following day that she was “literally physically in tears” after she read the statement on her personal Twitter account.
“My campaign is gonna kill me,” Perkins told the publication. “How do I say this? Some people think that I follow Q like I follow Jesus. Q is the information and I stand with the information resource.”
Here’s some more context:
What's new: Perkins reiterated her support for QAnon to ABC News in an interview out Friday. The Senate nominee said she was “literally physically in tears” after reading the campaign statement with her name on it, which claimed she "would never describe herself as a follower."
Flashback Perkins first suggested she supported the theory — which centers around an anonymous internet user claiming to wage war against the "deep state" from within the federal government — in a now-deleted video on Twitter. In the post she said, "I stand with Q and the team," before using one of QAnon's rallying cries.
"To be very clear, I do not believe everything from Q/Anon and would never describe myself as a follower, but I also do not believe in infringing upon any outlet's right to discuss news or topics. This is the same as those on the Left who read what Julian Assange or George Soros or Bill Gates says or writes, for that matter."
— Perkins' Tuesday campaign video that has since been deleted
What she's saying now: "My campaign is gonna kill me ... How do I say this? Some people think that I follow Q like I follow Jesus," Perkins told ABC Friday. "Q is the information and I stand with the information resource."
Yeah, I’m not worried about this nut job beating U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D. OR). He has bigger fish to fry, like Trump. I received this e-mail today from Merkley’s re-election campaign:
When I was growing up, my dad worked in the mills. Getting things right by patience and precision was as much a watchword as anything in our family.
Measure twice. Cut once.
Which is why, when it comes to this pandemic, we need a carefully-considered response. We must get this right if we're all going to get through this.
Any money that we spend needs to go where it will do the most good — to support unemployed workers, small businesses struggling to stay afloat, cash-strapped state and local governments, medical research, and hospitals and first-responders that need PPE.
But no more big corporate bailouts. No more Team Trump slush fund. Sign my petition and add your voice to this movement.
This is tough. Everyday families are struggling. We must fast-track economic relief to working families—and shut down the gravy train of Wall Street giveaways.
I need you to speak out loudly — to make sure Congress can hear you say: No more bailouts for Wall Street while Main Street can barely keep the lights on.
Jeff
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