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.
Exactly what is QAnon conspiring to do? I’ve read some of the Q posts. Mostly I read that we’re to be patient and trust ... There are no secret meetings, plans, or watch words. I guess there is a slogan, WWG1WGA. That’s a call to unity. But, nothing else.
I agree with Trump. What’s wrong with opposing Satanic-worshipping pedophiles and cannibals? IOW, the Rats.
Conspiring to tell US what’s really going on behind the curtain..................
I never paid that much attention to the whole thing but now Im starting to think it’s legit. Here is a decent page to follow Q’s latest. https://qmap.pub/
Well, you have to admit, the Q people have been burning down American cities like Minneapolis, Oakland, Chicago, Seattle and others, assaulting police and civilians, looting, and shooting. . . . What? Oh, wait. That wasn’t the Q folks? Then who?
Democrats don’t refute communists, rioters, black racists, etc.
Those would be the Zen like peaceful protesters.
“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.”
How interesting. Why didn’t he include the data particulars?
Just how was this “polling” done? What are the sampling groups and their various percentages?
.
Simple response :
IS IT LIKE THE FICTION YOU CAN SEE ON THE NIGHTLY LEFTYMEDIA NEWS ???
.
“QAnon, a bogus online conspiracy theory” QAnon is not a theory, bogus or not. It might be an online movement, or a group of like thinkers, but it is not any kind of THEORY. I read some Q stuff and keep what makes sense, throw away what doesn’t. Regardless of what Q thinks, I don’t think we should let pedophiles and cannibals run loose in this country.
“ABCNNBCBS all in Synchronicity”
Which is an element of the Qanon conspiracy theory.
Which is also a corollary of sociological theories of American conflict, such as Codevillas.
Q is in general strategic analysis sense quite conventional. Its about a decadent, deteriorating upper caste that is trying to suppress bourgeois pushback against their incompetent and counterproductive use of all institutions.
The pedophilia and etc. are just symptoms of decadence, and a good propaganda wedge.
IS IT LIKE THE FICTION YOU CAN SEE ON THE NIGHTLY LEFTYMEDIA NEWS ???
__________________________________________________________
Yep, look at all of the cow manure the media pushes onto the public that is supposed to be believed. Spirit cooking folks they are.
Quite so. Q is certainly not a call to action.
It is not an operative conspiracy at all.
At most it is a messaging system designed to reduce trust in institutions opposed to Trump. But that is hardly new.
Q has a narrative line.
Part of it was about exposing the “deep state” conspiracies vs Trump, especially the DOJ-FBI-CIA cabal and its investigations. The conspiracy theory in this case, of bad actors in corrupted institutions, proved to be entirely correct, so far, and likely will be proven entirely correct.
The other parts of it are about more “strategic” factors, as in the reasons why the DOJ, FBI and CIA acted as they did. It makes no sense for such as Comey and Brennan to act on their own, or collude with each other. Why should they not have gone along with Trump, or retired quietly with honor?
More crassly, who is paying them to make it worthwhile take a fall?
And this is one of those curious things where it is undoubtedly true that those bad actors were serving some unknown source of authority, some higher power, but we still lack specifics.
That is in part where Q also comes in, but only in a most cryptic way. Who are your enemies?
What is interesting is that yesterday Fox NEWS had a “news” article based on this same story. It was disgustingly biased. It was taken down and a new one was put up that was less disgustingly biased. The so-called journalist that got the headline Andrew O’Reilly. It was also removed from the landing (front) page.
“...QAnon, a bogus online conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact”
What’s that saying about taking more flak when you’re over the target?
You could almost see the spit flying from their mouths. I love it when our enemy is angry. It means we’re doing something right.
Gee wiz, how many other conspiracy theories does he have to denounce?
“There is no Sasquatch! The CIA has no evidence of the Abominable Snowman. The NSA cannot find the Loch Ness Monster on any satellite imagery! Area 51 does not contain the dead body of a crashed alien life form!”
So, one's a LARP in cyberspace. The others are Marxist revolutionaries who are out burning down cities, looting private property and maiming and killing citizens.
But it is the "Q-conspiracy" that is a danger.
“ a bogus online conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact. “
Not judgmental at all, eh?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.