QANON is the bizarre conspiracy theory linked to the fate of former President Donald Trump.
Trump refused to condemn the right-wing group, which believes cannibals and pedophiles secretly control the world and have been involved in a number of violent incidents.
What is QAnon?
QAnon is a conspiracy theory that has become popular among large segments of Trump supporters.
The supporters claim that the former president communicated about “secret battles” between himself and the Deep State.
However, suspected QAnon leader Ron Watkins told his followers that he should “go back to their lives” in the wake of Trump’s election loss to Joe Biden.
According to NBCthe theory revolves around an anonymous source, Q, who tries to tell the world a secret – or several secrets.
These center around unsubstantiated allegations that Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller are waging a secret battle against an alleged pedophile ring.
Supporters of the completely baseless theory believe that this ring is filled with celebrities and political elites, who have been secretly running the United States government for decades.
The theory received increased press attention after a supporter held a large letter Q at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania in August 2018.
In June 2018, an armed QAnon follower blocked traffic at Hoover Dam and demanded the president release a report linking former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton to the alleged sex ring.
The protester, Matthew Wright, later pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in February 2020.
The movement appeared to lose steam following Trump’s election loss, while QAnon supporters were demanding “What Happened to the Coup?”
How did it start?
The bizarre theory emerged in December 2016, when Edgar M. Welch entered a pizzeria in Washington DC and demanded to see a basement that didn’t exist.
According to NBC, he believed the restaurant was part of a child sex ring, a conspiracy known as Pizzagate.
The US news site reported that eight months later, a person named “Q” first posted on the anonymous political message board 4chan, known as a hotbed of conspiracy talk.
Since his first post, involving Hillary Clinton, Q has posted nearly 1,800 posts.
Followers are trying to decipher these nonsensical messages, with some of Trump’s most loyal supporters using them as a way to explain away any scandal the president might face.
Jared Holt, a Right Wing Watch research fellow who has tracked QAnon’s growth, said: “All of Trump’s mishaps on the world stage, his opponents in the media, and his various scandals can all be effectively framed as attacks within QAnon’s lore. coordinated against him as he moves closer to taking down a global conspiracy that is committing the most heinous crimes imaginable, including satanic child sex trafficking and blood sacrifice.”
Most of the deadlines mentioned in Q’s posts have disappeared and all have proven to be unfounded.
How big is his following?
The bizarre theory has gained a cult following among some followers, with Q-related products such as T-shirts, mugs and jewelery available.
Reddit’s QAnon community GreatAwakening had 50,000 subscribers in 2018 – just two years after the theory first surfaced.
And conservative celebrities like Roseanne Barr, James Wood and Curt Schilling have also hinted at its existence, drawing even more press attention to it.
Despite originating in the darkest corners of the internet, social media sites and online retailers reinforced their image, with Amazon having to remove the “Amazon’s Choice” labels of linked merchandise in 2018.
On October 15, 2020, Trump refused to condemn QAnon conspiracy theorists, insisting, “I don’t know them.”
QAnon made headlines again in October 2022, when controversial journalist Lara Logan was banned from Newsmax after pushing QAnon tropes live on air, according to The everyday beast.