If you thought Trump's electoral loss would have any kind of modifying effect on his most ardent supporters, allow us to introduce you to Virginia state Senator Amanda Chase.
Chase so rigidly refuses to follow the Virginia legislature's mask mandate that she has been forced by her colleagues to sit inside a plexiglass cube when the Senate is in session—a box she calls "The Square of Freedom."
No, that's not a joke, and yes, our country has lost a large part of its mind.
Chase, who calls herself "Trump in heels," has also publicly stated she will refuse the vaccine.
But it's not just the pandemic where Chase lets her extremist flag fly. Chase has become so embroiled in conspiracy theories and neo-fascist ideologies that she has been booted from the Virginia Republican Party.
And as Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Chase, she has been embraced by extremist groups of every stripe.
As The Daily Beast recently wrote in a profile of the Senator:
"She's playing the hits for the extremist crowd, lying about the vaccine, knowingly taking donations and 'security' help from neo-Confederate and QAnon-linked extremists, and calling on President Donald Trump to overturn his election loss by declaring martial law."
After the Electoral College certified the election results last week, Chase doubled-down on the sentiments in her interview with The Daily Beast.
"This is a war for the ideals and foundations of the very country we have come to know and love since our inception. I truly believe with all my heart that the presidential elections were stolen."
Chase also claims to be "Antifa's number-one target" and that there was a plot to dismember her at a recent gun rally.
A credible threat was made and thwarted at the rally, but it was by a Neo-Nazi group who planned to open fire on the crowd and had nothing to do with Antifa.
Naturally, Chase's bizarre propensity for conspiracy extends to the pandemic itself, which she claims is a hoax being "used by the liberalcrats and the socialist [sic] to push their agenda." She also claims the vaccines are being manufactured in China, which is false.
Given all of this, you'd be forgiven for thinking that being forced to sit in a plexiglass box is the least Chase's colleagues could do.
And on Twitter, some people couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.
But many others were alarmed by Chase's antics.
Especially after she began an online retaliation campaign against The Daily Beast journalist who profiled her.
Chase, who was elected to the Virginia Senate in 2016, announced in February that she is running for governor of the state in November 2021.
She announced earlier this month that she will run as an independent after her ouster from the Republican Party.
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