What’s happening
Even when Donald Trump is not in power, QAnon’s beliefs continue to infect politics.
Why it matters
The uncovered conspiracy will be in play during the upcoming mid-term elections, but that doesn’t mean you have to fall for it.
QAnon, a marginal right-wing conspiracy theory focused on former President Donald Trump, did not disappear when he left office. Instead, faith in the savage conspiracy persists and continues to play a role in political discourse, whether Americans realize it or not.
The QAnon conspiracy, which first surfaced in October 2017, falsely claims that Trump waged a covert war against a satanic pedophile cooperative in Hollywood and the Democratic Party. The non-partisan Institute for Public Religious Research – a non-profit organization that investigates the intersection of religion, culture and public policy – published a study in February showing that nearly 16% of Americans believe in the key conspiracy of QAnon.
“QAnon has evolved from a Trump-centered movement leading a covert military intelligence operation to save the world, to a movement that not only doesn’t need Trump, but doesn’t need the iconography he’s developed over the past four years,” said Mike Rothschild. conspiracy researcher and author of The Storm Ispon Us, which provides a history of conspiracy theory QAnon.
Conspiracy theories can be dangerous and even deadly, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, with misinformation about vaccines that play a role in causing some people to succumb to the virus. Despite being repeatedly exposed, the belief in the QAnon conspiracy continues to infect areas of politics outside of Trump. So far this year, aspects of the conspiracy have penetrated protests, the Supreme Court hearing and laws.
“His mythology of secret pedophile circles suppressed drugs and technology, the huge corruption and fraud that triggered [purportedly] decrepit Joe Biden in office, and COVID as a scam, have infected every aspect of mainstream conservative politics and culture, ”Rothschild added.
As the midterm elections approach, the conspiracy is likely to continue to appear in campaigns and social media. Being able to recognize its impact can make it easier to spot and avoid it in the future.
Here are some of the current events that the QAnon conspiracy has caught on to, some are obvious and others less so.
Medium elections
2020 almost 100 candidates who expressed support for QAnon ran for office. The two most prominent candidates to win their races were Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican from Georgia.
This year, so far, there are 78 candidates vying for positions in 28 states who believe in QAnon, according to Grid News. One race, in particular, has an interesting candidate, and the person allegedly responsible for setting up as a Q is running for office.
Ron Watkins is a former site administrator for the anonymous board of 8chan and a person said to be responsible for many Q drops as outlined in the documentary series Q: Into the Storm. He is also running for a seat in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.
Watkins became prominent among Republicans after the 2020 presidential election when he repeated allegations of electoral fraud that have since been exposed. He is one of several candidates running in the Republican primary for the seat, which will take place on August 2.
Another candidate who has supported QAnon in the past, Doug Mastriano, is running for governor of Pennsylvania. Mastriano won the Republican nomination on May 17. He tweeted several times in 2018 with QAnon hashtags and slogans. He will fight Democrat candidate Josh Shapiro in November.
People, we now have the first ever known candidate for governor from a major party in American history who previously expressed a certain level of support for QAnon. https://t.co/U2BTAs8PYd
– Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) May 18, 2022
A QAnon influencer named Juan O. Savin – an alias that should sound similar to the James Bond code name “007” – is working on a coalition to bring Q loyal candidates to secretarial offices in South Carolina, Colorado and Nevada, according to a Media Matters report. The 2020 presidential election and false allegations of voter fraud have made Americans more aware of the responsibilities of the Secretary of State. In many states, this is an official who helps determine whether elections have had problems with voter fraud.
Durham investigation
In May 2019, Attorney General Bill Barr ordered an investigation into the 2016 presidential election and called on U.S. Attorney John Durham to lead it. Many QAnon followers saw the investigation as part of a “storm” that would lead to the arrest of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others within the Democratic National Committee. One of the last messages from Q in 2020 had only one word: Durham.
Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer who worked with the Clinton campaign in 2016, was accused by Durham in September of allegedly lying to the FBI. On Tuesday, a jury acquitted him of the charges.
Both Trump’s and Q’s followers shared their horror at the U.S. legal system after the acquittal was announced. Some have also begun to evade the decision to support a false conspiracy.
The war in Ukraine
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Russia has been using misinformation to justify Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to go to war. Both Facebook and Twitter have denounced Russia for its efforts to misinform. One false story Russia told at the start of the invasion was that Ukraine was allegedly developing biological weapons, a conspiracy theory put forward by QAnon believers months earlier.
Posts by conspiracy theorists from 2021 falsely claimed that Biden and his son Hunter were part of a conspiracy to develop biological weapons in foreign countries, according to Media Matters. One of these countries was Ukraine.
A few days before Russia started spreading misinformation about biolabs, a false claim about laboratories in Ukraine was published on a Twitter account with conspiracy theory. He began circulating in QAnon circles, then quickly expanded to other right-wing forums and was reinforced by conservative media, including Tucker Carlson of Fox News. Eventually, both Russia and China began to deal with the narrative of Ukrainian biolabs.
The claims about biological weapons in Ukraine turned out to be incorrect. The United States and Ukraine have an agreement to prevent the development of biological weapons in laboratories that were created when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.
A potential Trump return to Twitter
Elon Musk agreed to that in April buy Twitter for $ 44 billionalthough it is The director of Tesla has since said that the job is pending. If he really buys a social network, Musk said he will lift the platform ban for Trump. The the former president’s order was banned by Twitter days after January 6 Capitol revolt.
This news has ignited some QAnon believers on various social media platforms where they gather, such as Gab and Telegram.
They suggested that Trump’s possible return to Twitter was predicted by Q 2017 and that it would be a sign that the former president is preparing to confirm the breakup of the fictional cooperative. Like the whole QAnon conspiracy, this is completely false.
This prediction – an alleged sign that the “show” will indeed begin – comes from this fall in Q, published in November 2017.
Such theories have been present and gone for weeks, but this is not the first time they have emerged in recent years … and it will not be the last. pic.twitter.com/SqWoPnDY05
– Sara Aniano (@coolfacejane) May 10, 2022
It is unclear whether Trump would return to Twitter if he was allowed to. The former president would reportedly be required to post first on his social media platform, Truth Social, before sharing things on other sites.
Supreme Court hearing
The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court with 53 to 47 votes last month. She will replace retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who will step down at the end of his judicial term in June.
Jackson’s confirmation hearing was expected to be a political circus. But some Republican senators have questioned her court decisions, and they also seem to subtly point to QAnon.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, tried to portray Jackson as a bad record in cases involving sex offenders who targeted children. His attacks were considered deceptive. Other Republican senators – including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas – followed suit and declared Jackson compliant with pedophiles. In reality, her file is on a par with other judges who have tried similar cases.
QAnon believers have moved to social media platforms such as Telegram and Truth Social, posting messages supporting Republican senators carrying out these attacks and condemning Jackson. Qa believers felt that these senators supported their conspiracy that Democrats were part of a pedophile cooperative and were turning a blind eye to child sexual crimes.
Trucker Convoy / Anti-vax
At the beginning of the year, a group of antivaxxers in canada formed a movement to take over the country’s capital over a demand for the vaccine. Their secret weapon was the use of semi-trucks. A convoy of truckers lasted for weeks while trucks were camping in Ottawa before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used emergency powers to force protesters to remove.
In March, a similar protest took place in the United States with the aim of reaching Washington, DC. This version received much less attention and support, partly due to the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
QAnon believers played a role in both protests. Misinformation about the COVID vaccine is all present in Q communities and this misinformation is beginning to infect other right-wing groups. Trucks and other vehicles in the U.S. and Canada were decorated with QAnon logos and slogans.
Disney protest
Florida’s law on parental rights in education, which opponents also call “Don’t speak gay law”, was signed by state law in March. Disney employees protested the company’s failure to pass the law, which in turn led the company to say it would work to repeal the law.
This has sparked outrage from Republican lawmakers who passed a bill in April to repeal Disney’s special tax status. Mickey Mouse has also become a target of QAnon believers.
Protests at the entrance to Disney World in Orlando, Florida began in April. Protesters chanted and carried signs reading Disney World “Pedo World” and the slogan “Ok, Groomer”, which is a simulation of the meme “Ok, Boomer”.
QAnon’s supporters not only supported these protests, but also began spreading misinformation about the company and its CEO, Bob Chapek. These include the exaggerated losses the company suffered as a result of the protests and the false claim that Capek was arrested for human trafficking and child pornography. Allegations about Capek and his arrest are completely false.