Atlanta, Nov 4:Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who expressed racist views and support for QAnon conspiracy theories in a series of online videos, has won a US House seat representing northwest Georgia.
Her candidacy was bolstered by President Donald Trump, who has called her a “future Republican Star”.
Greene was heavily favoured in the conservative district even before Democratic challenger Kevin Van Ausdal suddenly dropped out in September, saying he was moving out of state.
Greene is a businesswoman and political newcomer who’s gained large followings on social media in part by posting incendiary videos and comments.
Greene has claimed in online videos that Black and Hispanic men are being held back by “gangs and dealing drugs,” alleged an “Islamic invasion” of government offices and accused Jewish billionaire George Soros of collaborating with Nazis.
She has also embraced QAnon, a far-right US conspiracy theory centred around the debunked belief that Trump is fighting a secret campaign against “deep-state” enemies and a child sex trafficking ring of satanic pedophiles and cannibals.
In more recent videos and posts, she has attacked everything from the Black Lives Matter movement to the use of facemasks to protect against the coronavirus.
After some of her comments came to light, Greene was condemned by some future House colleagues within her own party, but many other Republicans including Trump and Republican US Senator Kelly Loeffler have embraced her.
She had a blunt message for her detractors in a speech after winning a GOP primary runoff in August: “I will not apologise.”
“Congratulations to future Republican Star Marjorie Taylor Greene on a big Congressional primary win in Georgia against a very tough and smart opponent,” Trump tweeted after her primary win.
“Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up – a real WINNER!” Greene initially started campaigning for a different House seat, challenging Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, made up of suburbs north of Atlanta. She switched to the more conservative 14th District after Republican Rep. Tom Graves announced that he wasn’t seeking reelection.
Democrats weren’t able to replace Van Ausdal on the ballot because he dropped out too close to the election, leaving Greene essentially unopposed in the race.
The seat has been open since Graves stepped down in October. (Agencies)

Washington, Nov 4: The US formally exited the Paris Climate Agreement on Wednesday amid election uncertainty, three years after President Donald Trump announced his intent to remove the country from participating in the landmark global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
President Trump originally announced his intention to withdraw from the agreement in 2017 and formally notified the United Nations last year.
The US exited the pact after a mandatory year-long waiting period ended on Wednesday.
The historic accord seeks to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius, the value that climate scientists have determined will have disastrous consequences if exceeded.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the agreement as economically detrimental and claimed it could cost the country 2.5 million jobs by 2025.
He also said it gave other major emitters, like China and India, a free pass.
The US is the only country to withdraw from the global pact. It can still attend negotiations and give opinions, but is relegated to “observer status”.
Trump stated that he intended to renegotiate the details of the United States’s membership within the Paris Agreement that can better protect US workers in industries like coal, paper, and steel.
The US is the second leading producer of all carbon dioxide emissions globally, behind China.
But whether the US exit turns out to be brief or lasting depends on the outcome of the presidential contest, The Washington Post said.
A possible second Trump term would make clear that an international effort to slow the Earth’s warming will not include the US government. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to rejoin the Paris accord as soon as he is inaugurated and to make the US a global leader on climate action.
“Biden has vowed to re-enter the Paris accord if elected, a move that could take less than six months, ” Varun Sivaram, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy, told ABC News.
“Over the last four years, the Trump administration has sharply diminished the United States’ standing in the world,” in terms of environmental policy, Sivaram said.
While Biden’s climate plan has been recognised as the most ambitious the US has ever proposed, it still may not hit the mark, according to some critics.
Republicans have criticised Biden’s climate plan as being too expensive, with Vice President Mike Pence describing it as “a USD 2 trillion version of the Green New Deal” during his debate with Democratic rival Senator Kamala Harris last month. (PTI)

Los Angeles, Nov 4: Actor Hilarie Burton is joining her real-life husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the cast of long-running series “The Walking Dead”.
The 38-year-old actor will play the role of Lucille, the wife of villainous Negan, portrayed by Morgan in the show.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Burton will have guest-starring role for the newly added bonus episodes of season 10, which will premiere in 2021 on AMC.
Sharing the news, the actor tweeted on Tuesday, “Been pretty hard to keep this a secret. But I love working with @JDMorgan. I love watching him become #Negan and take on that swagger.”
“And I love the @TheWalkingDead family. They’ve been a part of our family for ages and I’m so grateful for their kindness. Xoxo #hereslucille” she added.
In Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics, Negan was married to Lucille before the events of the zombie apocalypse. She was diagnosed with cancer, and Negan, whom Lucille was aware had been having an affair, broke off the relationship to spend as much time with his wife in her final days as possible.
Her passing came simultaneously to the zombie virus outbreak, and she reanimated as a walker in her hospital bed. Negan named the infamous barbed-wire baseball bat which he used to protect himself and others after his late wife.
Burton is best known for her role on “One Tree Hill”. The actor recently starred in “Council of Dads” and “Lethal Weapon”. (PTI)