Robert Delaney

Claims that US chaos shows China’s superiority ignore the more mundane reality

Lost in the claims that American exceptionalism is over is the fact Republican phenomenon Marjorie Taylor-Greene and her ilk have no policy orientation other than violent ethno-nationalism

Too few Americans want to erase every aspect of social reform for such an outcome

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Supporters take photos with Marjorie Taylor-Greene, right, on August 11, 2020, in Rome, Georgia. Despite promoting racist videos and adamantly supporting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, Taylor-Greene won the election for northwest Georgia's 14th Congressional District. Photo: AFP

Robert Delaney

Published: 1:30am, 2 Feb 2021Updated: 1:30am, 2 Feb 2021

Less than two weeks into US President Joe Biden’s administration, he is leading a country closing in on half a million Covid-19 deaths, burdened by a chaotic vaccine roll-out that has left federal officials scrambling to locate millions of doses and struggling to shore up an economy that has yet to recover.

On top of these problems, he is leading a country so divided that Republicans elevated to a House committee seat a freshman representative who has supported calls for the execution of Democratic leaders. Some Republican lawmakers are coming under increasing scrutiny for their connections with far-right groups, but few have attracted as much attention as the party’s new phenomenon, Marjorie Taylor-Greene.

Revelations about Taylor-Greene’s recent past include her denial that dozens of children and teenagers perished at the hands of deranged gunmen and claims that laser beams probably caused last year’s California wildfires.

Taylor-Greene is to the Republicans what new variants of Covid-19 are to the pandemic. She came out of nowhere and is suddenly everywhere, is potentially more dangerous in that her politics are more stridently Trumpian than former president Donald Trump’s and has everyone guessing what kind of long-term effect she will have on US politics.

When Senator Mitch McConnell finally dismissed Trump’s allegations that the 2020 election was stolen, and declared the Capitol rioters a disgrace, it seemed as though Republicans might have finally brought under control the Trumpian perversion of what was once a political party that defended the institutions of American governance.

05:52

Trump supporters storm US Capitol, interrupting Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory

However, a Republican backlash against congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of a handful in the party who voted for Trump’s impeachment, shows the party remains under Trump’s sway.

Claims that US chaos shows China’s superiority ignore the more mundane reality

Lost in the claims that American exceptionalism is over is the fact Republican phenomenon Marjorie Taylor-Greene and her ilk have no policy orientation other than violent ethno-nationalism Too few Americans want to erase every aspect of social reform for such an outcome

Lost in the claims that American exceptionalism is over is the fact Republican phenomenon Marjorie Taylor-Greene and her ilk have no policy orientation other than violent ethno-nationalism

Too few Americans want to erase every aspect of social reform for such an outcome