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Why President Trump's refusal to refute QAnon conspiracy theorists matters
CBS ^ | August 20, 2020, 1:11 PM | Staff

Posted on 08/20/2020 12:52:50 PM PDT by Red Badger

President Trump says he's glad to have support from voters who believe in QAnon, a bogus online conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact. Some of its believers have made the move into mainstream Republican politics.

QAnon supporters believe the president is fighting a secret group of pedophiles and sex traffickers inside the government. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok have all taken action recently to restrict QAnon content.

The FBI has warned that fringe conspiracy theories like QAnon pose a growing domestic terrorism threat, but some believers could soon be serving in Congress.

"I've heard these are people that love our country," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump was asked point-blank if he agrees with QAnon supporters who believe that he's secretly hunting down thousands of satanic, "deep state" pedophiles and cannibals so they can be executed for their crimes.

"Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? I mean, you know if I can help save the world from problems, I'm willing to do it," Mr. Trump said.

It's not the first time Mr. Trump has lent credence to a fringe theory. This one first emerged on the website 4Chan in late 2017.

"The idea was that this anonymous poster, who people refer to as 'Q,' was giving secret clues about the coming, quote, 'Great Awakening,'" according to political science professor Joe Uscinski, who studies conspiracy theories. "The beliefs themselves are almost an incitement to violence. I mean, there isn't anything worse you can say about your political competitors than that they are satanic sex traffickers who molest and eat children."

"It has a lot of properties that make it more like a cult," Uscinski said.

QAnon believers are a frequent sight at Trump rallies and some are now seeking office themselves. Jo Rae Perkins, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Oregon, is one of at least 19 GOP congressional candidates who've paid lip service to QAnon.

"I stand with President Trump. I stand with Q and the team. Thank you, Anons.," Perkins said in a now-deleted Twitter video.

Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene, who claims there has been an "Islamic invasion" of government offices, has also voiced support for the movement. Several Republican leaders congratulated her on her primary win last week, and the president called her a "future Republican star."

"She had a tremendous victory," Mr. Trump said.

That infuriated Republican U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, who posted a rebuttal online.

"There's a massive amount of false predictions," Kinzinger said. The Illinois lawmaker told CBS News he's worried QAnon could corrode democracy.

"It has to be called out, I think; for the president to say, 'No, I don't believe these theories, they're ludicrous,'" Kinzinger said.

Standing up to conspiracy theorists made Kinzinger a target.

"I have the people on Twitter now telling me I created ISIS with John McCain," he told CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

"Do you think that's why more Republicans don't speak out?" Cordes asked. "Because they're worried about the attacks they will get online?"

"You know, I can't speak for everyone, but I certainly think there are some that are concerned about that," Kinzinger said.

Facebook announced new restrictions Wednesday to block and remove QAnon ads, fundraising and searches. The site has already removed nearly 800 groups and 100 pages tied to the conspiracy theory.

Despite the red flags and warnings from his own law enforcement, according to one media watchdog President Trump has amplified the tweets of QAnon believers more than 200 times.

"I don't really know anything about it other than they do supposedly like me," Mr. Trump said Wednesday.

Uscinski says there's a reason for that.

"They brought him to the prom and he needs to continue dancing with them," Uscinski said. "So... that's exactly what he's going to continue doing."

Uscinski said some of the QAnon claims aren't even original. They're similar to theories that showed up in Oliver Stone's movie "JFK" almost 30 years ago. Yet the professor says he's done polling which shows that between 5% and 10% of Americans believe President Trump is a secret crusader, working to take down a cannibalistic cabal inside the government.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: q
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ABCNNBCBS all in Synchronicity..............
1 posted on 08/20/2020 12:52:50 PM PDT by Red Badger
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To: ransomnote; bitt

Q-Ping!..................


2 posted on 08/20/2020 12:53:12 PM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: Red Badger

exactly 0% of low info voters could even care about this fake news narrative.


3 posted on 08/20/2020 12:54:04 PM PDT by 1Old Pro (#openupstateny)
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To: Red Badger

Really don’t see why these people care about it one way or another. Seems like there is a lot of rioting out there they should be covering.


4 posted on 08/20/2020 12:55:16 PM PDT by Timmy
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To: Red Badger

Personally I never put much stock in QAnon but I starting to reconsider seeing that the media are getting hysterical about it and even Facebook and Twitter are blocking the discussion. If it was just “nonsense” or some “leftist prankster trolling Conservatives” as the media claimed for years, why get upset over it now?


5 posted on 08/20/2020 12:55:42 PM PDT by apillar
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To: Red Badger

Trolled and hooked. Time to reel them in.


6 posted on 08/20/2020 12:56:10 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: 1Old Pro

The Democrat base only wants to see how many “q”s they can fit into a baby’s name


7 posted on 08/20/2020 12:57:04 PM PDT by digger48
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To: Red Badger

The evil scum Democrats are afraid.


8 posted on 08/20/2020 12:57:21 PM PDT by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie.)
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To: Timmy

Antifa and BLM = Good
Q-Anon = BAD

Got it?............................


9 posted on 08/20/2020 12:58:02 PM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: apillar

I couldn’t get into when I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about, even when it was deciphered


10 posted on 08/20/2020 12:59:11 PM PDT by digger48
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To: apillar

They attack that which most frightens them..............


11 posted on 08/20/2020 12:59:34 PM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: stinkerpot65

They should be......................very...............


12 posted on 08/20/2020 12:59:59 PM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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To: Red Badger

Wait until they find out that Q runs the Post Office.

Most people wonder why POTUS Trump is being asked about a Character from The TV Show Star Trek the Next Generation.


13 posted on 08/20/2020 1:00:21 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Kill a Commie for your Mommy.)
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To: Red Badger
They and Jeb! are like someone denouncing a comic book because well, it's a comic book. We have to tell you it's a comic book. It isn't real. We have to save Americans from being suckered in by buying comic books and reading them. And talking about them like they are real. Superman isn't real. Believe us. And Archie and Veronica are just comic book characters. Truly.

OH and only idiot deplorables read comic books and we know you aren't one of those.

14 posted on 08/20/2020 1:00:31 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: Red Badger
Kitzinger-douche was one of those who wanted us to STAY in Syria... his industrial complex donors were mad. So he spent weeks railing against The Donald for getting us out.

But he's a national guard flyboy faux hero on Fox segments, so we're supposed to think he's cool... something like that.

15 posted on 08/20/2020 1:03:06 PM PDT by AAABEST (NY/DC/LA media/political/military industrial complex DELENDA EST)
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To: Red Badger
"The beliefs themselves are almost an incitement to violence."

You mean like Nancy Pelosi's repeated statements that President Trump is a murderer and is murdering tens of thousands of Americans? Or how about Dem instructions to take to the streets? Barack Obama's demand that his supporters "get in their face" when confronting conservatives? Cathy Griffin's holding a bloody severed head made to resemble Trump?

16 posted on 08/20/2020 1:04:11 PM PDT by ransomnote (IN GOD WE TRUST)
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To: apillar

Do you think the current members of the MSM ever wake up with regret, guilt, and remorse about the conspiracy theories they have peddled over the years like Russia collusion, global warming, Bush stole the election, etc. Do you think a few will ever repent and come clean kike Bernard Goldberg? Perhaps the establishment has too much on each of them for them to repent.


17 posted on 08/20/2020 1:08:20 PM PDT by alternatives? (If our borders are not secure, why fund an army?)
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To: AndyJackson

lol


18 posted on 08/20/2020 1:11:15 PM PDT by SteveH
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To: Red Badger

I mean, there isn’t anything worse you can say about your political competitors than that they are satanic sex traffickers who molest and eat children.”

Well, you could call them deplorables, Hitlerian nazis,
white supremists, racists, sexists, bla bla bla, etc.


19 posted on 08/20/2020 1:12:59 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68

You get the most flak when you are over the target......................


20 posted on 08/20/2020 1:14:52 PM PDT by Red Badger (Jesus said "There is no marriage in Heaven." ... That's why they call it Heaven............)
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