Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed that a mysterious “they” can control the weather after Hurricane Helene killed more than two dozen people in her state and a total of 200 across the US.
Greene, a Republican from Georgia, made the post on X late Thursday night: “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
She did not elaborate on who “they” are.
Earlier that day, Greene had posted a map of the southeastern US that appears to show political affiliation by county in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.
This is a map of hurricane affected areas with an overlay of electoral map by political party shows how hurricane devastation could affect the election. pic.twitter.com/XIbNZjuC1q
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) October 3, 2024
Fellow lawmakers were quick to mock Greene for the bizarre weather comment.
“Hakeem Jeffries should be the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,” Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz wrote in response. “Enjoy your weekend campaigning everybody.”
Shannon Watts, a gun violence prevention activist, also criticized the post for being rooted in antisemitic conspiracy theories.
“Reminder: This is a conspiracy theory based in anti-Semitism alleging that Jewish people have the technology to manipulate the weather and cause freak storms that wreak havoc on the world,” Watts wrote on X.
The Independent has contacted Greene’s office for comment.
Hurricane Helene has killed at least 215 people since it first made landfall in Florida last week. In Georgia, at least 33 are dead and more than 200,000 customers are without power as of Friday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
Carbon monoxide from power generators caused at least three of those deaths, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The storm is one of the deadliest in US history, second only to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
At the storm’s peak, more than 1.3 million people were without power in Georgia alone. State officials estimate the total damages in the Peach State will exceed $417 million, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Georgia election workers are also returning to their offices, the Associated Press reports, despite the widespread power outages and road damages. These workers are facing a tight deadline to mail absentee ballots out on October 7.
“It appears that the counties were spared substantial, long-term impacts,” said Robert Sinners, the communications director for Georgia’s Secretary of State. “It looks like election offices are able to continue their work preparing for the upcoming election as scheduled.”
In addition to spreading baseless theories that anyone can control the weather, Greene has also routinely spread election misinformation and other conspiracy theories. The lawmaker has repeatedly spread the lie that Donald Trump won the presidency in 2020, despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud during the election.
The former president, meanwhile, faces election interference charges in Fulton County, Georgia, alongside his former attorney Rudy Giuliani and others.
Greene has also spread false claims rooted in antisemitism, including that a space laser controlled by an executive at a bank owned by the Rothschild family — a Jewish family that has been the target of several antisemitic conspiracy theories — caused a California wildfire.
Authorities across the nation are warning residents of rampant misinformation in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
AI-generated photos and videos of hurricane damage are going viral online as local reporters work to dispel lies, Axios North Carolina reports.
In Columbia, South Carolina, Mayor Daniel Rickenmann called on residents to fact-check hurricane disaster information before sharing it.
“There are a lot of rumors going around about our drinking water and all types of things that are creating panic, where people don’t need panic,” Rickenmann said. “People are already suffering. They haven’t had power in several days. We’re working together to resolve that.”
“But please do not spread rumors,” he continued. “Please do not spread information that you have not verified. You’re doing more harm than good.”
