Bizarre ‘QAnon’ conspiracy theorists emerge from internet into real life at Trump rally
In the world according to QAnon, Donald Trump and Robert Mueller are working together to bring down a paedophile ring, and many famous people have already been arrested and are wearing ankle monitors
US President Donald Trump’s political rally in Florida on Tuesday night turned into a coming-out party for one of the most bizarre conspiracy theories to emerge during his presidency.
Throughout the broadcast, Fox News (the only network to stream the president’s rally live in its entirety) kept catching attendees in the crowd holding signs stating “We Are Q” and wearing T-shirts adorned with the letter “Q.” One attendee can be heard shouting to CNN reporter Jim Acosta to ask Trump about QAnon.
The “Q” stands for QAnon, a supposed government insider with top security clearance (the alias is a reference to Q-level security clearance) who has access to the real truth about the Clintons, paedophile rings, Barack Obama, Tom Hanks and a nebulous “deep state” out to get the president.
Since then “Q” has dropped random clues on 4chan and 8chan known as “breadcrumbs” his followers believe are linked to top secret information that reveals Trump’s efforts to end a complex ring of human trafficking and child abuse that they say Democrats and Hollywood celebrities have attempted to cover up.
Supporters also believe Trump is not really being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller. Instead, they think Trump only acted as though he engaged in a conspiracy with Russia in order to get Mueller appointed, so the two could secretly work together to take down this supposed cabal of criminals.
The QAnon conspiracy theory is unusual in many ways, but according to University of Miami professor Joseph Uscinski, one of the most interesting ways it stands out is that typically conspiracy theories are for losers in a fight.
