Why Trump Can’t Shake Jeffrey Epstein | The Ezra Klein Show
The Ezra Klein Show
Jul 18, 2025 The Ezra Klein Show
MAGA has been infighting over the Jeffrey Epstein files. And that’s because the conspiracy theories around Epstein hit at the very core of MAGA’s whole worldview.
Today’s episode looks closer at that worldview. Will Sommer has been tracking conspiracies for years now. He was a reporter at The Washington Post and is now at ;@bulwarkmedia; and he’s the author of “Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America.”
In this conversation, we discuss the rise of QAnon, Donald Trump’s slippery relationship to the more conspiracy-minded factions of his base and how the intrigue around the Epstein files has challenged his credibility as an outsider taking on the “corrupt elites.”
This episode contains strong language.
0:00 Intro
7:47 QAnon
17:57 What the polling reveals
25:15 How Epstein's death amplified QAnon
37:11 The strangeness of Epstein
48:40 The Epstein files and MAGA infighting
1:02:15 How Democrats view this moment
1:09:21 Book Recommendations
***
Access Hollywood tapes
Pizza gate
Deep State
Lolita Express
Epstein island
sweet heart deal
***
Cabal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Cabal (disambiguation).
A French (translated into English) humorous image of a cabal.
A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state, or another community, often by intrigue and usually without the knowledge of those who are outside their group. The use of this term usually carries negative connotations of political purpose, conspiracy and secrecy. It can also refer to a secret plot or a clique, or it may be used as a verb (to form a cabal or secretly conspire).
***
Deep throat
Anonymous source of secret information
The term "deep throat" primarily refers to an anonymous source of secret information, particularly in the context of the Watergate scandal. It was coined by journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to describe an informant who provided damaging information under cover of anonymity2. Additionally, it is derived from the title of a pornographic film released in the 1970s.
Deep Throat is the pseudonym given to the secret informant who provided information in 1972 to Bob Woodward, who shared it with Carl Bernstein. Woodward and Bernstein were reporters for The Washington Post, and Deep Throat provided key details about the involvement of U.S. president Richard Nixon's administration in what came to be known as the Watergate scandal. In 2005, 31 years after Nixon's resignation and 11 years after Nixon's death, Mark Felt revealed through an attorney that he was Deep Throat. By then, Felt was suffering from dementia and had previously denied being Deep Throat, but Woodward and Bernstein then confirmed the attorney's claim.
Background
Deep Throat was first introduced to the public in the February 1974 book All the President's Men by The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. According to the authors, Deep Throat was a key source of information behind a series of articles that introduced the misdeeds of the Nixon administration to the general public. The scandal eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon, as well as to prison terms for White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, G. Gordon Liddy, Egil Krogh, White House Counsel Charles Colson, former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, former White House Counsel John Dean, and presidential adviser John Ehrlichman. The film based on the book was released two years later; nominated for eight Academy Awards, it won four.
Howard Simons was the managing editor of the Post during Watergate. He[failed verification] dubbed the secret informant "Deep Throat", alluding to both the deep background status of his information and the widely publicized 1972 pornographic film Deep Throat.[1] For more than 30 years, Deep Throat's identity was one of the biggest mysteries of American politics and journalism and the source of much public curiosity and speculation. Woodward and Bernstein insisted that they would not reveal his identity until he died or consented to reveal it. J. Anthony Lukas speculated that Deep Throat was W. Mark Felt in his book Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years (1976), based on three New York Times Sunday Magazine articles, but he was widely criticized. According to an article in Slate on April 28, 2003, Woodward had denied that Deep Throat was part of the "intelligence community" in a 1989 Playboy interview with Lukas.[2]
On May 31, 2005, Vanity Fair revealed that Felt was Deep Throat in an article on its website by John D. O'Connor, an attorney acting on Felt's behalf. Felt reportedly said, "I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat." After the Vanity Fair story broke, Woodward, Bernstein, and Benjamin C. Bradlee, the Post's executive editor during Watergate, confirmed Felt's identity as Deep Throat.[3] L. Patrick Gray, former acting Director of the FBI and Felt's overseer, disputed Felt's claim in his book In Nixon's Web, co-written with his son Ed. Gray and others have argued that Deep Throat was a compilation of sources characterized as one person to improve sales of the book and movie. Woodward and Bernstein, however, defended Felt's claims and detailed their relationship with him in Woodward's book The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat.
Role in the Watergate scandal
Main article: Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate complex in 2006
Events
List
People
Watergate burglars
Groups
CRP
White House
Judiciary
Journalists
Intelligence community
Mark Felt ("Deep Throat")L. Patrick GrayRichard HelmsJames R. Schlesinger
Congress
Related
vte
On June 17, 1972, police arrested five men inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C. In their possession were $2,300 (equivalent to $17,300 today), plastic gloves to prevent fingerprints, burglary tools, a walkie-talkie and radio scanner capable of listening to police frequencies, cameras with 40 rolls of film, tear gas guns, multiple electronic devices which they intended to plant in the Democratic Committee offices, and notebooks containing the telephone number of White House official E. Howard Hunt. One of the men was James W. McCord Jr.;[4] a former Central Intelligence Agency employee and a security man for Nixon's Committee for the Re-Election of the President, later notoriously mocked with the acronym "CREEP".
Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward pursued the story for two years. The scandal eventually implicated many members of Nixon's White House, culminating in Nixon becoming the first United States president to resign. Woodward and Bernstein wrote in All the President's Men that key information in their investigation had come from an anonymous informant whom they dubbed "Deep Throat".
Methods of communication
Woodward, in All the President's Men, first mentions "Deep Throat" on page 71. Earlier in the book, he reports calling "an old friend and sometimes source who worked for the federal government and did not like to be called at his office". Later, he describes him as "a source in the Executive Branch who had access to information at CRP as well as at the White House". The book also calls him "an incurable gossip" and states "in a unique position to observe the Executive Branch", and as a man "whose fight had been worn out in too many battles".
Photo of a grey historical marker titled "Watergate Investigation" on the sidewalk beside a small urban street with a parking garage door visible on the right behind the sign. The marker reads: "Mark Felt, second in command at the FBI, met Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward here in this parking garage to discuss the Watergate scandal. Felt provided Woodward information that expose the Nixon Administration's obstruction of the FBI's Watergate investigation. He chose this garage as an anonymous secure location. They met at this garage six times between October 1972 and November 1973. The Watergate scandal resulted in President Nixon's resignation in 1974. Woodward's managing editor, Howard Simons, gave Felt the code name 'Deep Throat'. Woodward's promise not to reveal his source was kept until Felt announced his role as Deep Throat in 2005. Erected in 2008 by Arlington County, Virginia."
Historical marker in front of the parking garage in Rosslyn, Virginia, where Woodward and Felt met during the Washington Post's Watergate scandal investigation
Woodward claimed that he would signal to "Deep Throat" that he desired a meeting by moving a flowerpot with a red flag on the balcony of his apartment. When "Deep Throat" wanted a meeting, he would make special marks on page 20 of Woodward's copy of The New York Times; he would circle the page number and draw clock hands to indicate the hour. They often met "on the bottom level of an underground garage just over the Key Bridge in Rosslyn", at 2:00 a.m. The garage is located at 1401 Wilson Boulevard and has a historical marker that was erected in 2011. In 2014, the garage was scheduled to be demolished, though the county decided to save the historical marker, and the landowner promised to design a memorial commemorating the Watergate scandal.[5] As of 2024, the garage had not been demolished.[6]
Many were skeptical of these cloak and dagger methods. Adrian Havill investigated these claims for his 1993 biography of Woodward and Bernstein and found them to be factually impossible. He noted that Woodward's apartment 617 at 1718 P Street, Northwest, in Washington faced an interior courtyard and was not visible from the street. Havill said that anyone regularly checking the balcony, as "Deep Throat" was said to have done daily, would have been spotted. Havill also said that copies of The New York Times were not delivered to individual apartments but delivered in an unaddressed stack to the building's reception desk. There would have been no way to know which copy was intended for Woodward. Woodward, however, has stated that in the early 1970s the interior courtyard was an alleyway and had not yet been bricked off and that his balcony was visible from street level to passing pedestrians. It was also visible, Woodward conjectured, to anyone from the FBI in surveillance of nearby embassies. Also revealed was the fact that Woodward's copy of The New York Times had his apartment number indicated on it. Former neighbor Herman Knippenberg stated that Woodward would sometimes come to his door looking for his marked copy of the Times, claiming, "I like to have it in mint condition and I like to have my own copy."[7]
Further, while Woodward stressed these precautions in his book, he also admits to having called "Deep Throat" on the telephone at his home. Felt's wife recalls answering Woodward's telephone calls for Felt.[8]
Controversy over motives
In public statements following the disclosure of his identity, Felt's family called him an "American hero", stating that he leaked information about the Watergate scandal to The Washington Post for moral and patriotic reasons. Other commentators, however, have speculated that Felt may have had more personal reasons for leaking information to Woodward.
In his book The Secret Man, Woodward describes Felt as a loyalist to and admirer of J. Edgar Hoover. After Hoover's death, Felt became angry and disgusted when L. Patrick Gray, a career naval officer and lawyer from the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, who had no law enforcement experience, was appointed as Director of the FBI over Felt, a 30-year veteran of the FBI. Felt was particularly unhappy with Gray's management style at the FBI, which was markedly different from Hoover's. Felt aided Woodward and Bernstein because he knew Woodward personally, having met him years before when Woodward was in the navy. Over the course of their acquaintance, Woodward would often call Felt for advice. Instead of seeking out prosecutors at the Justice Department, or the House Judiciary Committee charged with investigating presidential wrongdoing, Felt was methodically solicited by Woodward to guide their investigation while keeping his own identity and involvement safely concealed.
Some conservatives who worked for Nixon, such as Pat Buchanan and G. Gordon Liddy, castigated Felt and asserted their belief that Nixon was unfairly hounded from office,[9] often claiming it a "witch hunt".[10]
Hal Holbrook portrayed Deep Throat in the film adaptation of All the President's Men (1976), in which he uttered the catchphrase, "Follow the money" (which was not referred to in the book).
***
QAnon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article contains one or more duplicated citations.
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flag featuring an American flag defaced with the Q logo alongside the slogan "Where we go one, we go all", at a Second Amendment rally in Richmond, 2020
QAnon[a] (/;kju;;n;n/ CUE-;-non) is a far-right American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017.[1][2] QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic,[3][4][5] cannibalistic child molesters in league with the deep state is operating a global child sex trafficking ring and that Donald Trump is secretly leading the fight against them.[9] QAnon has direct roots in Pizzagate, another conspiracy theory that appeared on the Internet one year earlier, but also incorporates elements of many different conspiracy theories and unifies them into a larger interconnected theory.[10] QAnon has been described as a cult.[10][11]
During the first presidency of Donald Trump, QAnon followers believed the administration would conduct arrests and executions of thousands of members of the cabal on a day known as "the Storm" or "the Event".[12] QAnon conspiracy believers have named Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors, high-ranking government officials, business tycoons, and medical experts as members of the cabal of pedophiles.[13] QAnon is described as antisemitic or rooted in antisemitic tropes, due to its fixation on Jewish financier George Soros and conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family, a frequent target of antisemites.[14][15]
Though QAnon has its origins in older conspiracy theories, it was set in motion in October 2017 when Q first posted on the website 4chan. Q claimed to be a high-level government official with Q clearance, with access to classified information about the Trump administration and its opponents.[16] Q soon moved to 8chan, making it QAnon's online home.[17] Q's often cryptic posts, which became known as "drops", were collected by aggregator apps and websites and relayed by influencers. QAnon became a viral phenomenon beyond the internet and turned into a political movement. QAnon followers began to appear at Trump campaign rallies in August 2018,[18] and Trump amplified QAnon accounts on Twitter.[19] QAnon's conspiracy theories have also been relayed by Russian and Chinese state-backed media, social media troll accounts,[24][20][25] and the far-right Falun Gong–associated Epoch Media Group.[31]
Since its emergence in American politics, QAnon spawned movements around the world. The exact number of QAnon adherents is unclear.[5][32] After increased scrutiny of the movement, social media platforms such as Twitter[33] and Facebook[34] began taking action to stop the spread of the conspiracy theory. QAnon followers have perpetrated acts of violence.[35] Members of the movement took part in the 2020 United States presidential election, during which they supported Trump's campaign and waged information warfare to influence voters.[36][37] After Joe Biden won, they were involved in efforts to overturn the results of the election. Associates of Trump, such as Michael Flynn,[41] Lin Wood[46] and Sidney Powell,[52] have promoted QAnon-derived conspiracy theories. When these tactics failed, Trump supporters – many of them QAnon followers – attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The Capitol attack led to a further, more sustained social media crackdown on the movement and its claims.[53][54] Though the QAnon movement in its original form lost traction after the 2020 election, some of the concepts it promoted went on to permeate mainstream American political discourse.[55]
Background
Pizzagate
Main article: Pizzagate conspiracy theory
Protester advancing the Pizzagate conspiracy theory
According to QAnon researcher Mike Rothschild, "while Q has a number of precursor conspiracy theories and scams ... no conspiracy theory feeds more immediately into Q than Pizzagate".[56] The Pizzagate theory began in March 2016 with the leak of Clinton campaigner John Podesta's emails, which promoters of the theory believed contained a secret code detailing child sexual abuse.[57] Pizzagate followers said that high-profile Democrats were sexually abusing children at a Washington, D.C. pizzeria, which led to an armed attack on the establishment by a gunman who believed the conspiracy theory.[58]
The allegations of child sexual abuse and the centrality of the Clinton family to this abuse became a key part of the QAnon belief system,[57] but in time the Clintons' centrality was de-emphasized in favor of more general conspiratorial claims of an alleged worldwide elite of child sex traffickers.[59] Q referred to Pizzagate claims without using the term.[57] QAnon followers often used the hashtag #SaveTheChildren to promote the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.[60] This caused protest from the unrelated non-governmental organization Save the Children.[61]
Influence of 4chan culture
The investigative journalism website Bellingcat called /htg/ or "Human Trafficking General" threads on the /pol/ board of 4chan "the missing link" between Pizzagate and QAnon. Instead of focusing on a limited supply of email material to comb through, the /htg/ culture allowed users to actively participate in the imagined storylines. A key /htg/ poster was Anonymous 5 (also known as "Frank"), who claimed to be a child prostitution investigator. But the lack of a coherent narrative was a constraint on the /htg/ trend, and it never achieved Pizzagate's popularity.[62]
The main tenets of the QAnon ideology were already present at 4chan before Q's appearance, including claims that Hillary Clinton was directly involved in a pedophile ring, that Robert Mueller was secretly working with Trump, and that large-scale military tribunals were imminent. Q's posts specifically targeted individuals who were hated in the community beforehand, namely Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Soros. Bellingcat says that the idea of the "Storm" was copied from another poster named Victory of the Light, who predicted the "Event", in which mass, televised arrests of the "Cabal" were forthcoming.[62]
Previous "anons"
In its most basic sense, an "anon" is an anonymous or pseudonymous Internet poster.[63] The concept of anons "doing research" and claiming to disclose otherwise classified information, while a key component of the QAnon conspiracy theory, is not exclusive to it. Q was preceded by so-called anons who also claimed to have special government access. On July 2, 2016, the anonymous poster "FBIAnon", a self-described "high-level analyst and strategist" who claimed to have "intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Clinton case", began posting false information about the 2016 investigation into the Clinton Foundation and claimed that Hillary Clinton would be imprisoned if Trump became president. Around that time, "HLIAnon", standing for "High-Level Insider Anon", hosted long question-and-answer sessions, dispensing various conspiracy theories, including that Princess Diana was murdered after trying to stop the September 11 attacks. Soon after the 2016 United States elections, two anonymous posters, "CIAAnon" and "CIAIntern", falsely claimed to be high-ranking Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers, and in late August 2017, "WHInsiderAnon" offered a supposed preview that something was "going to go down" regarding leaks that would affect the Democratic Party.[64]
Origin and spread
English Wikisource has original text related to this article:
How the QAnon Conspiracy Theory Went Global
A 4chan user named "Q Clearance Patriot" first appeared on the site's /pol/ board on October 28, 2017, posting in a thread titled "Calm Before the Storm",[1] a phrase Trump had previously used to describe a gathering of American military leaders he attended.[1] "The Storm" later became QAnon parlance for an imminent event in which thousands of alleged suspects would be arrested, imprisoned, and executed for being child-eating pedophiles.[12] The poster's username implied that they held Q clearance,[65][66] a United States Department of Energy security clearance required to access Top Secret information on nuclear weapons and materials.[67]
Man wearing a t-shirt with a design consisting of a block letter "Q" overlaid with an American flag pattern
A pro-Trump protester wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a common QAnon logo, at the "Stop the Steal" rally on November 14, 2020
Q's first post said that Hillary Clinton was about to be arrested, which would cause massive unrest and be followed by numerous other arrests. A second message was posted a few hours later, saying that Clinton was being "detained" though not arrested yet and that Trump was planning to remove "criminal rogue elements". The post also alluded cryptically to George Soros, Huma Abedin and Operation Mockingbird.[68]
Q's activity surged in November, with most posts expanding upon previous theories about Hillary Clinton. Other conspiracy theories were added involving Barack Obama, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.[69] An Internet community developed around analyzing posts attributed to Q, and several conspiracy theorists became minor celebrities in the community.[70][71] Followers started looking for "clues" to confirm their beliefs, including common phrases and occurrences. In November 2017, Trump sipping water from a bottle was interpreted as a secret sign that the mass arrests would soon take place.[72]
QAnon went further than Pizzagate by implying a worldwide cabal and incorporating elements from other conspiracies. One of the earlier rumors QAnon followers spread was that such figures as Hillary Clinton, her daughter Chelsea, and Senator John McCain had already been arrested and indicted, and were wearing ankle monitoring bracelets during their public appearances.[72] In the following months, the QAnon community helped spread other rumors such as the "Frazzledrip" theory, which purported the existence of a "snuff" video showing Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin murdering a child, drinking her blood and taking turns wearing the skin from her face as a mask.[73][74]
In November 2017, two 4chan moderators, Paul Furber (also known as "BaruchtheScribe",[64] a South African conspiracy theorist with an interest in U.S. politics)[75] and Coleman Rogers (also known as "Pamphlet Anon"),[64] worked with YouTuber Tracy Diaz to promote QAnon to a wider audience.[76][77] This involved setting up the r/CBTS_Stream subreddit, where subscribers came to talk about QAnon. The subreddit was permanently closed in March 2018 due to incitement of violence and posting private information.[64] QAnon spread to other social media, including Twitter and YouTube.[70] Rogers and his wife, Christina Urso, launched Patriots' Soapbox, a YouTube livestream dedicated to QAnon, which they used to solicit donations. Future U.S. representative Lauren Boebert was a guest on Patriots' Soapbox during her 2020 congressional campaign.[76] Posts by Q moved to 8chan, with Q citing concerns that the 4chan board had been "infiltrated".[64] Thereafter, Q posted only on 8chan.[17] In August 2019, 8chan was shut down after it was connected with the El Paso shooting and other violent incidents. Followers of QAnon then moved to Endchan, until 8chan was restored under the name 8kun.[78][37]
Mainstream attention
Two soldiers meeting Pence on a tarmac
Vice President Mike Pence with Broward County SWAT team members, on November 30, 2018; the man on the left wears ...
Detail of one soldier's uniform, showing a patch with a black "Q" on a red background, and a second patch with a black field bearing an axe and scythe crossed over one another
... a "Q" patch (close-up) used by followers of QAnon[b]—the deputy was reprimanded and removed from the SWAT team as a result. The photo was tweeted, removed, and then replaced in Pence's feed.[79]
QAnon first received attention from the mainstream press in November 2017. Newsweek called it "Pizzagate on steroids".[72] Gossip columnist Liz Crokin, a Pizzagate follower, was one of the first public figures to embrace QAnon. She went on to become one of the movement's most prominent influencers.[80] Fox News personality Sean Hannity and comedian Roseanne Barr spread the news about it to their social media followers in early 2018,[81] and the conspiracy theory gained traction on the mainstream right.[82] At this time, InfoWars host and far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones claimed to be in personal contact with Q. This led to the presence of QAnon followers at a July 2018 Trump rally for the midterm elections in Tampa, Florida, the first visible presence of the QAnon movement at Trump rallies.[83]
Some Christian pastors introduced their congregations to QAnon ideas. The Indiana-based Omega Kingdom Ministry tried to combine QAnon and Christianity, with Q posts and Bible quotes both read during church services.[84] Some Christians, such as pastor Derek Kubilus, call QAnon heresy,[85] but most U.S. pastors have not taken a stand against it.[86] More generally, QAnon's rise coincided with increasing radicalization and violent episodes in American far-right movements.[87]
QAnon-related merchandise was widely available on Amazon's online marketplace in 2018.[88] QAnon: An Invitation to the Great Awakening, a book said to be authored by a group of 12 QAnon followers, neared the top of Amazon's bestsellers list in 2019, possibly through algorithmic manipulation.[89][90] Also in 2019, QAnon blogger Neon Revolt (an alias of former aspiring screenwriter Robert Cornero Jr.) self-published the book Revolution Q: The Story of QAnon and the 2nd American Revolution, which became an influential text among the QAnon community and was also distributed by Amazon.[91] In 2020, Politico noted that 100 titles associated with QAnon were available on Amazon Marketplace, in many different languages and with generally positive reviews.[92]
Sites dedicated to aggregating the Q posts, also called "drops"[93] or "Q drops",[94][78] became essential for their dissemination and spread. QMap was the most popular and famous aggregator, run by a pseudonymous developer and overall key QAnon figure known as "QAPPANON".[95][96] QMap shut down shortly after the British fact-checking organization Logically published a September 2020 report[97] that identified QAPPANON as a New Jersey-based security analyst named Jason Gelinas.[96][98] Multiple online communities were created around QAnon: in 2020, Facebook conducted an internal investigation that revealed that the social network hosted thousands of QAnon-themed groups and pages, with millions of members and followers.[99] One QAnon influencer, Austin Steinbart, stood out by claiming that Q was his own time-traveling future self.[100]
According to Reuters, Russian-backed social media accounts promoted QAnon claims as early as November or December 2017.[22] Russian government-funded state media such as RT and Sputnik have amplified the conspiracy theory since 2019, citing QAnon as evidence that the United States is divided by internal strife.[20] In 2021, a report from the Soufan Center, a research group focused on national security, found that one-fifth of 166,820 QAnon posts in the United States between January 2020 and February 2021 originated in foreign countries, primarily Russia and China, and that China was the "primary foreign actor touting QAnon-narratives online".[25][101][102] The far-right Falun Gong-associated Epoch Media Group, including The Epoch Times, has also been a major promoter of the conspiracy theory.[31]
University of Southern California professor and data scientist Emilio Ferrara found that about 25% of accounts that use QAnon hashtags, retweet InfoWars or had retweeted One America News Network were bots.[103]
International following
Marc-Andr; Argentino, a researcher of the movement, noted in August 2020 that QAnon-dedicated Facebook pages existed in 71 countries worldwide.[104] In January 2021, researcher Joel Finkelstein told The Washington Post that the German and Japanese QAnon movements were "strong and growing",[105] though according to a later New York Times report, the Japanese version (also known as "JAnon" [Japanese: J;;;])[106] remains a fringe belief even among conspiracy theorists.[107] Three pro-QAnon groups in Japan are known to exist as of 2022: J-Anon, QArmyJapanFlynn and YamatoQ.[108][109] In April 2022, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested several members of YamatoQ for breaking into a health clinic which provided COVID-19 vaccinations.[110]
Between March and June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, QAnon activity nearly tripled on Facebook and nearly doubled on Instagram and Twitter.[111] By that time, QAnon had spread to Europe, from the Netherlands to the Balkan Peninsula.[112]
In Germany, far-right activists and influencers have created a German audience for QAnon on YouTube, Facebook, and Telegram, estimated at 200,000 in 2020. German Reichsb;rger groups adopted QAnon to promote its belief that modern Germany is not a sovereign republic but rather a corporation created by Allied nations after World War II, and expressed hope that Trump would lead an army to restore the Reich.[112] A March 2022 study by the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy, a German think tank, found that more than one in ten people in Germany agreed with QAnon's theories and that Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Freedom Party of Austria (FP;) voters were more likely to believe in QAnon.[113][114]
In Russia, a similar conspiracy theory, the "Soviet Citizens"—which claims the Russian Federation is a Delaware-based LLC that occupies the legal territory of the Soviet Union—also became susceptible to QAnon beliefs.[115]
A 2020 survey conducted in Britain found that one in four respondants believed in QAnon-related theories, though only 6% supported QAnon.[116] In October 2020, anti-racist advocacy group Hope not Hate said that British influencer Martin Geddes ran "one of the most popular QAnon Twitter accounts in the world".[117] In October 2021, R;my Daillet-Wiedemann, a French QAnon-associated conspiracy theorist,[118][119] was charged with terrorism for having planned a coup against the French government. Various associates of Daillet-Wiedemann were also arrested and charged in late 2021[120] and early 2022.[121]
Many Canadians have also promoted QAnon.[122][123][124] In July 2020, a gunman and QAnon follower drove a vehicle into the grounds of Rideau Hall, the temporary residence of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, to "arrest" Trudeau over COVID-19 restrictions and firearm regulations.[125][126][127] A February 8 article in The Guardian described the 2022 convoy protests in Canada as the result of coordination between QAnon, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaccine and anti-government organizations.[128] Romana Didulo, a Philippines-born Canadian woman claiming to be Canada's rightful "Queen", built an online following in the course of 2021, creating a cultlike organization using QAnon and sovereign citizen concepts. Because of Didulo's network of followers and calls for violence, researchers identified her in 2022 as one of the most dangerous QAnon influencers in Canada.[129][130][131]
Cam Smith, an Australian researcher tracking far-right activity online, noticed mentions of QAnon in Australia's local communities as early as 2018.[132] In 2020, when lockdown measures were imposed in Melbourne to contain an outbreak of COVID-19, a group of QAnon adherents from Queensland traveled there to protest, promoting QAnon as they went.[133][132] A 2020 paper by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue revealed that Australia was the fourth largest producer of QAnon content, after the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.[132]
The movement has spread to Spain and Latin America,[134] with countries like Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay and Brazil having an online presence.[135] La Naci;n reported in 2020 that the Facebook page "QAnon Costa Rica" which was spreading misinformation and fake news, had called to depose President Carlos Alvarado and praised right-wing figures such as far-right presidential candidate Juan Diego Castro Fern;ndez, and controversial deputies Dragos Dolanescu Valenciano and Erick Rodr;guez Steller.[136] In Spain, the far-right Vox party was accused of endorsing anti-Biden conspiracy theories linked to QAnon on its Twitter account by claiming that Biden was the candidate "preferred by pedophiles".[137] An RTVE news report found that most Spanish QAnon supporters identified Vox as their preferred political party.[138]
Claims
Q's posts
A QAnon logo based on a white silhouette of a rabbit, which signifies Q telling followers to "Follow the White Rabbit", i.e. discover the hidden truth by doing their own research about the theory
Q made thousands of posts on 4chan and 8chan/8kun.[93] These "drops" were often allusive, cryptic, and impossible to verify;[139] some included strings of characters that are allegedly coded messages.[140] Q used a conspiratorial tone, with phrases like "I've said too much" or "Some things must remain classified to the very end". To sustain faith in a final victory over the "cabal", Q used recurring phrases such as "Trust the plan", "Enjoy the show", and "Nothing can stop what is coming".[78] Q's messages typically claimed that everything was going as planned, that Trump was in control, and that all his adversaries would end up in prison.[68] Q also encouraged followers to do their own research by telling them to "Follow the White Rabbit".[c] QAnon followers used the "White Rabbit" reference both as a hashtag[141][72] and as the name of a Facebook group that had around 90,000 members in 2020.[142]
Many early posts advanced claims about "deep state" collusion with foreign powers. In 2018, Q mentioned geopolitical conspiracies such as the Obama administration having planned to send technology to Iran and North Korea. Later, Q found new targets such as Planned Parenthood, which they accused of harvesting fetuses for profit, or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who they said was a member of the cabal. Over the years, other topics of interest included Russian interference, child trafficking, Jeffrey Epstein, Antifa and Hunter Biden.[69] Becoming increasingly vague over time, Q's posts allowed followers to map their own beliefs onto them and develop new variations of the theory.[143]
The author Walter Kirn has described Q as an innovator among conspiracy theorists by enthralling readers with "clues" rather than presenting claims directly: "The audience for internet narratives doesn't want to read, it wants to write. It doesn't want answers provided, it wants to search for them."[144] But Q often made specific predictions that did not prove correct:[145]
Hillary Clinton was about to be arrested and would attempt to flee the country[d]
John Podesta would be arrested on November 3, 2017, and public riots would be organized to try and prevent the arrest of other public officials[68]
A major event involving the Department of Defense would take place on February 1, 2018
People targeted by Trump would commit suicide en masse on February 10, 2018
There would be a car bombing in London around February 16, 2018
A "smoking gun" video of Hillary Clinton would emerge in March 2018
Something major would happen in Chongqing on April 10, 2018
There would be a "bombshell" revelation about North Korea in May 2018
The Trump military parade would "never be forgotten"[e]
The Five Eyes "won't be around much longer"
Mark Zuckerberg was going to leave Facebook and flee the United States[f]
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey would be forced to resign "next" (in the context of the prediction of Zuckerberg's resignation)[g]
Pope Francis would have a "terrible May" in 2018
On multiple occasions, Q has dismissed these incorrect predictions as deliberate, claiming that "disinformation is necessary".[147][148][149] This has led Australian psychologist Stephan Lewandowsky to emphasize the "self-sealing" quality of the conspiracy theory, highlighting its anonymous purveyor's use of plausible deniability and noting that evidence against it "can become evidence of [its] validity in the minds of believers".[146] The numerous false, unsubstantiated claims Q has posted include:
That the CIA installed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a puppet ruler[150]
That U.S. Representative and former Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz hired Salvadoran gang MS-13 to murder DNC staffer Seth Rich[151][152][h]
An apparent suggestion that German chancellor Angela Merkel is Adolf Hitler's granddaughter[157]
That Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Soros, and others are planning a coup against Trump and are involved in an international child sex-trafficking ring[158][159]
That the Mueller investigation was a counter-coup led by Trump, who pretended to conspire with Russia to hire Mueller to secretly investigate the Democrats[160] and expose the child sex-trafficking ring[161]
That the Rothschild family leads a satanic cult,[162] a centuries-old antisemitic trope against the family[163]
The cabal and "the Storm"
Outside the US. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, riot, a Trump supporter carries a placard depicting Jesus in a MAGA hat with the QAnon hashtag "#WWG1WGA" visible in the lower right
QAnon's core beliefs are that the world is controlled by a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping child molesters, Trump is secretly battling to stop them, and Q reveals details about the battle online. The cabal is thought to cover up its existence by controlling politicians, mainstream media, and Hollywood.[164] Q's revelations imply that the cabal's destruction is imminent but also that it will be accomplished only with the support of the "patriots" of the QAnon community.[78] This will happen at a time known as "the Event" or "the Storm", when thousands of people will be arrested and possibly sent to Guantanamo Bay prison or face military tribunals. The U.S. military will then take over the country,[165] and the result will be salvation and utopia.[166]
QAnon followers believe the cabal includes Democratic Party politicians like Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, business people like George Soros[10] and Bill Gates,[167] religious leaders like Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama,[10] Anthony Fauci,[78] and entertainers like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres,[10] Lady Gaga[168] and Chrissy Teigen.[167][169] Tom Hanks is a special target for QAnon believers. When Hanks went into quarantine at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they spread a rumor that he had been arrested on child abuse charges. Other similar allegations followed and in July 2021, some QAnon adherents took seriously an article from Real Raw News, a fake news website, that claimed the U.S. military had executed Hanks.[170][168] On the contrary, some QAnon followers believe other celebrities like Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Avicii, and Anthony Bourdain were murdered to cover-up their alleged involvement in a human trafficking documentary.[171][172]
The claim that Trump stimulated the conspiracy of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to enlist Robert Mueller in the fight against the cabal involved the idea that Mueller would not only expose the sex-trafficking ring, but also prevent a coup d';tat by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros.[162][160]
One key tenet in QAnon's narrative until the 2020 election was the recurring prediction that Trump would be reelected in a landslide and spend his second term bringing about "the Storm" by undoing the deep state, disbanding the cabal and arresting its leaders.[173] After Trump lost and Q stopped posting, QAnon followers continued to search for previously unseen clues in old posts or creating new spin-offs of the theory.[174] They subsequently made predictions about Trump remaining president or returning to power, such as:
Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021, would be an elaborate trap set for the Democrats, who would be arrested en masse and executed while Trump retained power.[175]
Trump would be inaugurated on March 4, 2021, as the 19th president.[176]
Trump would be inaugurated again on March 20, 2021. After this did not happen, QAnon adherents predicted it would happen on August 13, 2021.[177]
The Arizona audit would prove election fraud, handing the state to Trump, and other states would follow suit in a "domino effect", resulting in Trump being reinstated as president.[174]
The 2021 California gubernatorial recall election result would be proven fraudulent, which would catalyze a national fraud audit, resulting in Trump returning to power.[178]
John F. Kennedy (the 35th president of the United States, who was assassinated in 1963) or his son John F. Kennedy Jr. (who died in a plane crash in 1999) would appear alive in front of a crowd in Dallas on November 2, 2021, and announce Trump's reinstatement as president and the installation of Kennedy Jr. as vice president.[179]
Child sex trafficking and satanic sacrifice
QAnon effectively merged with Pizzagate by incorporating its beliefs – namely that children are being abducted in a child trafficking ring, which followers equate with the cabal. They also see Trump as the only person fighting this criminal network.[180] Added to this is the belief that politicians and Hollywood elites engage in "adrenochrome harvesting", in which adrenalin is extracted from children's blood to produce the psychoactive drug adrenochrome.[181][i] This comprises claims that children are tortured, or sacrificed in Satanic rituals, to harvest the adrenaline that comes from fear.[182] The aforementioned "Frazzledrip" video in which Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin allegedly murdered a child was said to depict an "adrenochrome harvest".[74] One version of the QAnon theory posits that the child abusers use adrenochrome as an elixir to remain young.[184] In reality, adrenochrome is synthesized solely for research purposes and has no medical uses.[185][186][187]
#SaveOurChildren graffiti on a bridge in Lufkin, Texas in 2021
In June 2020, a group led by QAnon promoter Timothy Charles Holmseth, which called itself the Pentagon Pedophile Task Force despite having no connection with the Pentagon or any U.S. governmental agency, attracted attention by spreading false claims about tens of thousands of children being held hostage and tortured in New York City.[188][189] Also by 2020, some followers began using the Twitter hashtag #SaveTheChildren (#SaveOurChildren was also used),[190] co-opting a trademarked name for the child welfare organization Save the Children.[191] This led to an August 7 statement by Save the Children on the unauthorized use of its name in campaigns.[192] In September, Facebook and Instagram tried to prevent #SaveTheChildren from being associated with QAnon by redirecting users who searched for the hashtag to the child welfare group.[193] In October, Facebook announced it would try to limit the hashtag's reach.[194]
In the same period, QAnon followers also created a conspiracy theory that falsely accused furniture company Wayfair, a competitor of Overstock in which QAnon promoter Patrick Byrne had been the CEO, of selling expensive furniture to launder money gained from child sex trafficking.[195][196]
Similar groups in both the U.S. and the U.K. helped organize street protests that they say raise awareness of child sexual abuse and human trafficking.[197][198] These protests and hashtags have often avoided social media restrictions[199] and tend to attract more women and a more politically diverse and younger crowd than typical QAnon groups, including people opposed to Trump and his leadership. These groups are considered to be linked to the Pastel QAnon community.[200]
QAnon's child abuse allegations against popular entertainers are based on the unproven claims of the actor Isaac Kappy, who in 2018 accused multiple Hollywood stars of pedophilia.[168][201][202]
Travis View wrote in a Washington Post column that QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theorists harm the credibility of the fight against child sexual abuse, as their baseless claims are a distraction from actual crimes. Followers of these theories have also credited themselves for arrests of criminals in which they had no part: QAnon promoter Jordan Sather credited Jeffrey Epstein's arrest to 4chan and 8chan, while none of the investigative reporting nor the indictment referenced these forums.[203] Some of the conspiracy theories about Epstein's death have also brought people to QAnon.[180]
In May 2022, The New York Times reported that QAnon supporters were intercepting child migrants at the Mexico–United States border and collecting information about their families on the premise that they were falling prey to sex-trafficking schemes.[204]
Other QAnon beliefs
See also: Syncretism (merging of belief systems as a general notion)
See also: Sovereign citizen movement, COVID-19 misinformation, Anti-vaccine activism, and NESARA
QAnon supporters awaiting the return of John F. Kennedy Jr. in Dealey Plaza, on November 22, 2021
QAnon Anonymous, a podcast dedicated to analyzing and debunking the QAnon movement, calls it a "big tent conspiracy theory" due to its ability to evolve and add new claims. QAnon has incorporated elements from many other preexisting conspiracy theories, such as those about the Kennedy assassination, U.F.O.s and 9/11.[10] In 2018, Liz Crokin promoted the theory that John F. Kennedy Jr. faked his death and is Q.[205][206] Other followers adopted variations of the Kennedy conspiracy theory, asserting that a Pittsburgh Trump supporter named Vincent Fusca is Kennedy Jr. in disguise and would be Trump's 2020 running mate.[206] In November 2021, hundreds gathered in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, the site of President Kennedy's assassination, believing they would witness the return of Kennedy Jr., or both Kennedys. Attendees expected the event would herald Trump's reinstatement as president, that Trump would step down to allow Kennedy Jr. to become president, and that Kennedy Jr. would then name Michael Flynn as his vice president.[207][208][209] According to QAnon researcher Will Sommer, about 20% of QAnon followers believe the JFK Jr. theory, while the majority finds it too "farcical on its face".[206]
Logo of E-Clause, a pseudolaw firm based on sovereign citizen ideology associated with QAnon[189][210]
Due to the overlap between the two movements, some QAnon followers have joined the sovereign citizens, a loose grouping of vexatious litigants and tax protesters whose set of pseudolegal beliefs implies that most laws and taxes are illegitimate and can be safely ignored if one uses the correct procedures.[211][212] In 2022, the Anti-Defamation League reported that sovereign citizen ideology was attracting a growing number of QAnon adherents, as their belief in the Biden administration's illegitimacy meshed well with sovereign citizens' broader anti-government views.[213]
In 2018, Q said that "vaccines [not all]" were part of the Big Pharma conspiracy.[214] Later on, as anxiety and isolation linked to the COVID-19 pandemic fostered a rise of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine discourse, many in the movement used the pandemic to promote QAnon.[214] Very little of this was directed by Q posts, and Q did not mention the pandemic until March 23, 2020 (when they called COVID-19 the "China virus"),[215] not using the name "COVID-19" until April 8.[69] But influencers in the QAnon community were openly anti-mask[68] and anti-vaccine,[216][217][218][219] and helped spread denialism[80] as well as other misinformation about the pandemic.[220][221][222] QAnon conspiracy theorists touted drinking an industrial bleach (known as MMS, or Miracle Mineral Solution) as a "miracle cure" for COVID-19.[223][224][225] Q suggested that hydroxychloroquine, endorsed by Trump at the time, was a cure for the disease, and accused Democrats of forcing infected patients into nursing homes, deliberately causing most COVID-related deaths in the U.S.[69] Some QAnon followers have said that the pandemic is fake; others have claimed that the "deep state" created it.[78] QAnon adherents also helped promote the conspiratorial video Plandemic.[68]
In March 2022, CNN, France 24, and Foreign Policy reported that QAnon promoters were echoing Russian disinformation that created conspiracy theories about United States-funded laboratories in Ukraine.[226][227][228] Russian state media falsely claimed that "secret United States biolabs" were creating weapons, a claim refuted by the U.S., Ukraine, and the United Nations.[227] In reality, the laboratories were first established to secure and dismantle the remnants of the Soviet biological weapons program, and since then have been used to monitor and prevent new epidemics. The laboratories are publicly listed, not secret, and owned and operated by host countries such as Ukraine, not the U.S.[226][227][229] QAnon followers have claimed to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an effort by Putin and Trump to destroy "military" laboratories in Ukraine.[226][227]
Until the invasion of Ukraine, QAnon-adjacent groups were hostile to China. In March 2022, analyst Elise Thomas wrote in a report for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue: "The dynamics of the invasion are shifting their views. In an astoundingly short space of time, Xi Jinping appears to have been recast from a villain to a hero in the QAnon conspiracy pantheon."[230][231]
Supporters have also become invested in the NESARA economic conspiracy theory. In 2022, Bellingcat reported that many QAnon-related Telegram channels were becoming increasingly devoted to NESARA content.[232]
Some adherents expressed belief in the reptilian conspiracy theory, asserting that the Satanic cabal alleged to be in power consists of shapeshifting reptilian humanoids. According to multiple news reports, this led some to kill suspected "lizard people". A California father attempted to kill his children for fear that they had inherited "serpent DNA" from their mother, while a Seattle-based member of the far-right Proud Boys who frequently alluded to and promoted QAnon-linked material on Facebook, sought to murder his brother on suspicion of reptilian ancestry.[233]
Analysis
Identity of Q
The Q persona is claimed to be that of a well-connected individual with access to highly sensitive government information, who put themself at risk by disclosing the information online. Q used a calm, authoritative tone, rarely interacted with other posters, and never argued with those who disagreed with their claims. In 2021, Bellingcat analyzed several little-known posts published by Q during the days that followed the first "drops". While containing text identical to later messages unambiguously authored by Q, these also showed Q being "out of character" and behaving in a manner similar to 4chan's other anonymous posters. Bellingcat's theory is that the author of these messages[j] had not yet perfected the Q persona and was still settling into the voice of their online alter ego, which implies that Q was originally one 4chan poster among many instead of a powerful government insider.[234]
Q's motives and identity have been the subject of much speculation and assumptions, both among QAnon followers and critics. Hypotheses on Q's identity have included a military intelligence officer,[69] a Trump administration insider,[71] but also public figures such as Michael Flynn,[235] Stephen Miller,[161] or Trump himself.[161] In 2018, during the early days of QAnon, it was speculated that Q could be the puzzle organization Cicada 3301 creating the movement as a form of live action role-playing game,[236] or a left-wing artist collective (emulating another collective, Luther Blissett, that authored a novel titled Q) playing an elaborate prank on right-wing online culture.[237]
Multiple people
By 2020, it became accepted among researchers that the pseudonymous entity known as Q has been controlled by multiple people in cooperation.[76] A stylometric analysis has suggested that two people likely wrote Q's posts, and that their "distinct signatures clearly correspond to separate periods in time and different online forums".[238][239] An analysis of metadata of images posted by Q found that they were likely posted by someone in the Pacific Time Zone.[240]
By design, anonymous imageboards such as 4chan and 8chan obscure their posters' identities.[76][241] Those who wish to prove a consistent identity between posts while remaining anonymous can use a tripcode, which associates a post with a unique digital signature for any poster who knows the password.[78][242] There have been thousands of posts associated with a Q tripcode.[78] The tripcode associated with Q has changed several times, creating uncertainty about the poster's continuous identity.[78] Passwords on 8chan are also easy to crack, and the Q tripcode has been repeatedly compromised and used by people pretending to be Q.[243] When 8chan returned as 8kun in November 2019 after several months of downtime, the Q posting on 8kun posted photos of a pen and notebook that had been pictured in earlier 8chan posts to show the continuation of the Q identity, and continued to use Q's 8chan tripcode.[78]
Paul Furber and the Watkins family
Main articles: Jim Watkins and Ron Watkins
Portrait of Paul Furber
South African software engineer Paul Furber, who was a moderator on 4chan and 8chan
Portrait of Ron Watkins
Ron Watkins, administrator of 8chan
Portrait of Jim Watkins
Jim Watkins, owner of 8chan
Fredrick Brennan, the original owner of 8chan, said in June 2020 that "Q either knows Jim or Ron Watkins or was hired by Jim or Ron Watkins".[78][244] He later said that "If [Jim Watkins is] not 'Q' himself, he can find out who 'Q' is at any time. And he's pretty much the only person in the world that can have private contact with 'Q'."[245]
In September 2020, Brennan speculated that the Q account was initially run by another person, with Jim and Ron Watkins taking over in late 2017[244] or early 2018. Brennan's theory is that the original 'Q' poster was Johannesburg resident Paul Furber,[246] a 4chan and 8chan moderator and one of the first online commentators to promote QAnon.[76][75] Evidence for this theory includes that Q's first password ("Matlock")[247] was cracked on New Year's Day 2018[248] and, due to the nature of tripcodes,[247] Furber was asked to verify that the new Q (with a new password/tripcode)[246] was the same IP address as the old Q. Furber described this as "a lot of work", but something he'd been "called to do".[247] Brennan further suspects that Ron Watkins seized control of the account from Furber by using his login privileges as 8chan's administrator.[246] Furber has denied ever being Q.[246] Both Jim and Ron Watkins have said they do not know Q's identity and have denied being Q.[78][249][244]
The documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback spent three years investigating the origins of QAnon and its connection to 8chan, conducting extensive interviews with Jim and Ron Watkins and Brennan. In the last episode of Q: Into the Storm, the 2021 HBO docuseries he produced from this research, Hoback showed his final conversation with Ron Watkins, who stated on camera:
I've spent the past ... almost ten years, every day, doing this kind of research anonymously. Now I'm doing it publicly, that's the only difference. ... It was basically ... three years of intelligence training teaching normies how to do intelligence work. It was basically what I was doing anonymously before but never as Q. [Watkins then laughed and added:] Never as Q. I promise. Because I am not Q, and I never was.[250][251]
Hoback viewed this as an inadvertent admission by Watkins, and concluded from this interview and his other research that Watkins is Q.[252] Watkins again denied being Q shortly before the series premiered.[253]
On February 19, 2022, The New York Times reported that analysis of the Q posts by two independent forensic linguistics teams using stylometry techniques indicated that Paul Furber was the main author of the initial Q posts, and Ron Watkins took over at the start of 2018. The change seems to have occurred after Q moved from 4chan to 8chan. At the time, Furber had complained that Q had been "hijacked" and that Ron Watkins was complicit.[75][254] Furber responded to inquiries by saying that Q's writing style had influenced his own, not the other way around.[75]
Before Q's reappearance in June 2022, 8kun changed its salt, meaning it would have been impossible for a user to have the same tripcode as before. Yet Q's tripcode remained the same as it was in 2020, suggesting that 8kun's administrators either knew Q was going to post again or made the post themselves. Soon after, 8kun changed its salt back to the original. Jim Watkins also confirmed the new Q drops' authenticity within hours of their publication.[255]
Slogans and vocabulary
QAnon slogan "WWG1WGA" painted on an SUV
The popular QAnon slogan "WWG1WGA" ("Where we go one, we go all"), with a reference to The Matrix, painted on an SUV
The spread of QAnon has been accompanied by a series of slogans, catchphrases, buzzwords and hashtags that helped boost its popularity and online presence. Terms like the cabal or the Storm, and Q's recurring phrases like "Trust the plan" or "Enjoy the show" are among the most popular.[78][184] Q's "drops" are also known as "crumbs" (Q has used the term)[94] or "breadcrumbs".[256] In turn, followers of the conspiracy who analyze these posts have called themselves "bakers" who assemble the "crumbs" to make "dough", or "bread", as they weave the clues into a better understanding of the narrative.[94]
One early rallying cry among QAnon followers was "Follow the White Rabbit".[72] A popular QAnon slogan is "Where we go one, we go all" (frequently abbreviated as "WWG1WGA"),[k] first used by Q in April 2018.[69] The phrase "Do your own research" (or "Do the research") encourages people to look for "clues" that will confirm QAnon narratives. "Q sent me" has been a declaration of "allegiance" to Q.[184]
Other common phrases in QAnon parlance include "white hat" (a Trump supporter), "black hat" (someone in league with the deep state),[256] "Great Awakening" (the point at which the public wakes up to the truth), "red pill"[l] ("taking the red pill" means achieving QAnon awareness), or "sheeple" (a disparaging term for people who believe the mainstream media narrative).[257] "17anon" has sometimes been used as an alternative spelling of QAnon (Q being the 17th letter of the alphabet) and a way of circumventing social media algorithms.[184]
Derivative elements
For broader coverage of the common theme in American political conspiracy theories, see Conspiracy theories in United States politics.
As it incorporates elements from many other conspiracy theories, QAnon displays similarities with previous narratives, imagery and moral panics, whether political or religious in nature. In Salon, Matthew Rozsa wrote that QAnon may best be understood as an example of what historian Richard Hofstadter called "The Paranoid Style in American Politics", the title of his 1964 essay on religious millenarianism and apocalypticism.[5][164] Like Pizzagate,[258] QAnon has some resemblance to the Satanic panic of the 1980s, when hundreds of daycare workers were falsely accused of abusing children.[259][260][261][262]
Apocalypticism and Millenarianism
QAnon's "explicitly Christian" vocabulary[263] echoes longstanding Christian theological and eschatological traditions, particularly those rooted in apocalypticism and millenarian expectations. Central to QAnon's narrative are concepts such as the "Storm" (the Genesis flood narrative or Judgment Day), the "Great Awakening" (evoking the reputed historical religious Great Awakenings of the early 18th century to the late 20th century), and an emphasis on prophecy,[5][263] leading it to be sometimes construed as an emerging religious movement.[78][264]
QAnon followers, while seeing Trump as a flawed Christian, also view him as a messiah sent by God "who will triumph over Satan through a series of cataclysmic events".[265][4] According to one QAnon video, the battle between Trump and "the cabal" is of "biblical proportions", a "fight for earth, of good versus evil". Some QAnon supporters say the coming reckoning will be a "reverse rapture", that is "a revelation that means not only the end of the world but a new beginning", according to American political author Alexander Reid Ross.[166]
Evangelical influences
Religious studies scholar Julie Ingersoll argues that evangelicals have "helped make widespread acceptance of QAnon possible by weaving their theological commitments to apocalypticism, conspiracies and persecution narratives into the larger American culture."[266] Messianic, apocalyptic, and spiritual warfare themes which became popular in evangelical media beginning in the 1970s – as well as conspiracy theories such as the New World Order that are popular among the same demographic – have been described as influences on the QAnon belief system, as well as aspects of QAnon that appeal to evangelicals.[267][268]
The apocalyptic stories are seen by Christians as fictional depictions of real future events, giving them real-world significance.[269][267] American studies scholar S. Jonathon O'Donnell argues that QAnon, which sees Trump as fighting a demonic deep state, has significant commonalities with Christian spiritual warfare – and their followers overlap as well.[270] "QAnon is, in effect, one part Frank Peretti spiritual warfare, one part Left Behind series apocalypticism, and one part Elders of Zion antisemitic conspiracy theory, packaged together in a tantalizing, self-involving variation on Celebrity Apprentice reality television and social media", writes one scholar.[267]
Dualism
The movement "strikingly builds on Christian dualism".[265] This worldview divides reality into a stark struggle between good and evil, leaving little room for nuance or compromise. Theological frameworks such as presuppositionalism, which claims that all true knowledge is revealed by God as opposed to faulty human reason, have been argued to lead to us–versus–them thinking which easily expands from the theological sphere to the political in QAnon.[271]
Christian dualism itself was influenced by earlier religious traditions, particularly Manichaeism, a belief system that flourished in the late Roman and early medieval periods. Manichaeism depicted the world as a cosmic battlefield between absolute forces of light and darkness, a theme that later shaped Christian theological ideas about Satan, sin, and divine justice. This framework of cosmic struggle, carried into medieval Christianity through fears of heresy, witchcraft, and demonic infiltration, finds a modern counterpart in QAnon's vision of a hidden war between Trump and the deep state. By portraying political opponents as not merely corrupt but satanic, QAnon replicates this centuries-old dualistic tradition in a contemporary setting.[272]
The hidden enemy
A central element of QAnon's worldview is the belief in a hidden, malevolent force controlling society. This concept echoes medieval anxieties, such as fears surrounding witchcraft, secret societies, and demonic conspiracies blamed for societal ills. In particular, it closely mirrors accusations from texts like the Malleus Maleficarum, which claimed that witches secretly conspired with Satan to corrupt society from within.[272] Historian Niall Ferguson argues that such moral panics often emerge during times of instability, as societies search for scapegoats and simplified explanations for complex crises.[273]
QAnon further incorporates themes from early-Christian Gnosticism, particularly the idea that the true nature of the world is hidden and accessible only to those with special insight or "gnosis." QAnon adherents similarly see themselves as uniquely able to discern the secret evil manipulating events behind the scenes.[272] Additionally, this hidden-enemy narrative frequently overlaps with historical antisemitic tropes, portraying shadowy elites controlling world affairs. The fusion of these elements creates a potent narrative that positions followers as warriors engaged in a cosmic battle against a concealed, all-powerful adversary.
Satanic rituals and child victims
The Malleus Maleficarum argued that witches forged explicit pacts with the Devil—engaging in spells, nocturnal sabbaths, and ritual sacrifices—to undermine Christian society.[274] These accusations drew from earlier antisemitic conspiracies like the medieval blood libel, which falsely accused Jewish communities of murdering children for ritualistic purposes. Similarly, QAnon claims a secret global elite actively performs satanic rituals, including child sacrifice and "adrenochrome" harvesting[275][276][277]—echoing both medieval witch-hunts and more recent moral panics, such as the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, which involved widespread allegations of ritual Satanic abuse, often derived from claims made during the controversial Recovered Memory movement of the 1990s.[278] Although distinct phenomena, both panics similarly depicted their subjects as actively worshiping evil and collaborating with demonic forces, fueling a climate of fear and suspicion.
Historian Niall Ferguson notes that such narratives of hidden evil frequently emerge during societal instability, providing emotionally powerful scapegoats to simplify complex crises.[273] By portraying themselves as protectors of innocent children threatened by concealed demonic forces, QAnon adherents leverage deep-rooted cultural fears and historical anxieties to justify their worldview and mobilize followers.
Antisemitism
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According to the Anti-Defamation League, while "the vast majority of QAnon-inspired conspiracy theories have nothing to do with anti-Semitism", they described a review of QAnon tweets about Israel, Jews, Zionists, the Rothschilds, and Soros as "reveal[ing] some troubling examples".[15] Ethan Zuckerman and Mike McQuade have argued that QAnon "is more anti-elite than explicitly anti-Semitic".[8] The Washington Post and The Forward magazine have called QAnon's targeting of Jewish figures like George Soros and the Rothschilds "garden-variety nonsense with racist and anti-Semitic undertones" and containing "striking anti-Semitic elements".[160][279] A Jewish Telegraphic Agency article in August 2018 asserted: "Some of QAnon's archetypical elements—including secret elites and kidnapped children, among others—are reflective of historical and ongoing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories."[14]
QAnon's adrenochrome-harvesting claims have been linked to blood libel by the followers (who believe in the truthfulness of both)[280] and researchers of QAnon. Blood libel is a medieval antisemitic myth that says Jewish people murder Christian children and use their blood to make matzo for Passover.[181][281][282][259] In February 2022, social media users shared images of a sculpture of Simon of Trent, whose death was falsely blamed on the town's Jewish population, as evidence that elites harvest adrenochrome from children's blood.[283][284]
Genocide scholar Gregory Stanton has called QAnon a "Nazi cult rebranded" and a new version of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated antisemitic text published in 1903, deriving from antisemitic canards.[285][286] Republican QAnon follower Mary Ann Mendoza was noted for her reference to the antisemitic text when she retweeted a Twitter thread about the Rothschild family, Satanic High Priestesses, and American presidents saying, "The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion is not a fabrication. And, it certainly is not anti-Semitic to point out this fact."[287][m] An April 2021 Morning Consult poll found that 49% of Americans who believe in QAnon agree with the Protocols, and that 78% of Americans who agree with the Protocols also believe in QAnon.[290]
In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League reported that neo-Nazis were exploiting the absence of leadership among QAnon adherents on Telegram to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories.[291] QAnon conspiracy theorists have promoted Europa: The Last Battle, a neo-Nazi propaganda film which promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, including Holocaust denial.[292][293][294] They have also promoted content from Disclose.tv,[295] a German disinformation outlet with a following that includes Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis.[296][297][294]
Appeal
Experts have classified QAnon's appeal as comparable to those of religious cults.[11] According to an expert in online conspiracy, Renee DiResta, QAnon's pattern of enticement is similar to that of cults in the pre-Internet era where, as the targeted person was led deeper and deeper into the group's secrets, they become increasingly isolated from friends and family outside the cult.[298] Online support groups developed for those whose loved ones were drawn into QAnon, notably the subreddit r/QAnonCasualties, which grew from 3,500 participants in June 2020 to 28,000 by October.[299] QAnon virtual communities have little "real world" connection with each other, but online they can number in the tens of thousands.[298] Rachel Bernstein, an expert on cults who specializes in recovery therapy, said, "What a movement such as QAnon has going for it, and why it will catch on like wildfire, is that it makes people feel connected to something important that other people don't yet know about. ... All cults will provide this feeling of being special." There is no self-correction process within the group, since the self-reinforcing true followers are immune to correction, fact-checking, or counter-speech, which is drowned out by the cult's groupthink.[298] QAnon's cultish quality has led to its characterization as a possible emerging religious movement.[78][300][301][302][303] It has also been called a syncretic movement.[304]
Jacob Chansley, also known as "QAnon Shaman", a prominent proponent of QAnon and stormer at the U.S. Capitol attack,[305] carrying a "Q Sent Me" placard
Travis View, a researcher who studies QAnon, says that it is as addictive as a video game, and offers the "player" the possibility of being involved in something of world-historical importance. According to View, "You can sit at your computer and search for information and then post about what you find, and Q basically promises that through this process, you are going to radically change the country, institute this incredible, almost bloodless revolution, and then be part of this historical movement that will be written about for generations." View compares this to mundane political involvement in which one's efforts might help to get a state legislator elected. QAnon, says View, competes not in the marketplace of ideas, but in the marketplace of realities.[306] The belief in "The Plan" that Q alleged was in place to defeat the deep state and the cabal boosted the confidence of QAnon followers, who were told that things were happening behind the scenes and that victory would inevitably follow if they trusted Trump and the secret plan.[184] QAnon believers try to solve riddles presented in Q's posts by connecting them to Trump speeches and tweets and other sources.[64] The New Yorker has likened QAnon to "a form of interactive role-playing".[307] Some followers used a "Q clock" consisting of a wheel of concentric dials to decode clues based on the timing of Q's posts and Trump's tweets.[78]
American sociologist Mark Juergensmeyer says he "find[s] QAnon consistent with many other extremist religiopolitical movements ... including those that have arisen in response to the recent global crises of mass migration, economic globalization, and now a global pandemic".[308] Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, said QAnon has "the visceral appeal of an anti-elite message that is elastic enough to capture a lot of folks who feel fear and disenfranchisement from the current political system".[309] Scholar Mia Bloom describes it as "unique among conspiracy theories in its ability to mutate and adapt to its environment," stating "[i]t has successfully absorbed local grievances abroad and takes on whatever local issues are central". She also argues that QAnon's acceptance of movements such as vaccine skepticism have helped it spread into unexpected demographics that share those commonalities.[310]
Survey data showed in late 2020 that a quarter of those who knew about QAnon thought there was some truth to it. In a conspiracy theory environment, primary institutions of society that once served as trusted impartial authorities are easily rejected if they contradict the theory, making it difficult to counter the thinking of QAnon followers.[311]
Disillusionment
Travis View says:
People in the QAnon community often talk about alienation from family and friends. ... Though they typically talk about how Q frayed their relationships on private Facebook groups. But they think these issues are temporary and primarily the fault of others. They often comfort themselves by imagining that there will be a moment of vindication sometime in the near future which will prove their beliefs right. They imagine that after this happens, not only will their relationships be restored, but people will turn to them as leaders who understand what's going on better than the rest of us.[312]
Disillusionment can also come from the failure of the theories' predictions. Q predicted Republican success in the 2018 US midterm elections and claimed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was involved in secret work for Trump and that despite outward tension, the two were allies. When Democrats made significant gains and Trump fired Sessions, many in the Q community were disillusioned.[313]
Further disillusionment came when a predicted December 5 mass arrest and imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay detention camp of Trump's enemies did not occur, nor did the dismissal of charges against Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn. For some, these failures began a separation from QAnon, while others urged direct action in the form of an insurrection. Psychologist Robert Lifton said such a response to a failed prophecy is not unusual: apocalyptic cults such as Heaven's Gate, the People's Temple, the Manson Family, and Aum Shinrikyo resorted to mass suicide or mass murder when their expectations did not materialize. Lifton called this "forcing the end".[312] View echoed the concern that disillusioned QAnon followers might take matters into their own hands[166] as Pizzagate follower Edgar Maddison Welch did in 2016, Matthew Phillip Wright did at Hoover Dam in 2018, and Anthony Comello did in 2019, when he murdered Mafia boss Frank Cali, believing he was under Trump's protection.[314] In February 2019, Liz Crokin said that she was losing patience waiting for Trump to arrest the supposed members of the child sex ring, and warned that people might conduct "vigilante justice".[315]
Demographics
Man wearing a "We Are Q" shirt at a Trump rally in New Hampshire
According to an August 2018 Qualtrics poll for The Washington Post, 58% of Floridians were familiar enough with QAnon to have an opinion about it. Of those who had an opinion, most were unfavorable. The average score on the feeling thermometer was just above 20, a very negative rating, and about half of what other political figures enjoy.[316][317] Positive feelings toward QAnon were strongly correlated with susceptibility to conspiracy thinking.[317]
According to a March 2020 Pew survey, 76% of Americans had never heard of QAnon, 20% had heard "a little about it", and 3% said they had heard "a lot".[318][319] The survey showed 39% of those identifying as liberal democrats knew a little or more about Qanon while only 18% of people who were republican or leaned republican reported knowing a little or more about Qanon.[320] In September 2020, a Pew survey of the 47% of respondents who said they had heard of QAnon found that 41% of Republicans and those who lean Republican believed QAnon was good for the country, compared to 7% of Democrats and those who lean Democratic.[321]
An October 2020 Yahoo-YouGov poll found that even if they had not heard of QAnon, a majority of Republicans and Trump supporters believed top Democrats were engaged in sex-trafficking rings and more than half of Trump supporters believed he was working to dismantle the rings.[322]
In February 2021, an American Enterprise Institute poll found that 29% of Republicans believe the central claim of QAnon, that "Donald Trump has been secretly fighting a group of child sex traffickers that include prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites."[323] A March 2021 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Interfaith Youth Core survey found similar results: Republicans (28%) were twice as likely as Democrats (14%) to agree that the "elites" would soon be swept from power by a coming "storm"; Republicans (23%) were three times as likely as Democrats (8%) to agree that "Satan-worshipping pedophiles" control the government and media; and Republicans (28%) were four times as likely as Democrats (7%) to agree that "true American patriots may have to resort to violence" to resolve the situation.[324]
Surveys have found that conspiracy theories such as QAnon are most popular among white Americans, especially evangelicals. A May 2021 PRRI survey confirmed that white evangelicals are among QAnon's strongest supporters, but also found that Hispanic Protestants are drawn to the movement in even larger proportions.[325] According to the PRRI's figures, the core QAnon belief that global elites form a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles and child sex traffickers is held in the U.S. by 26% of Hispanic Protestants, 25% of White evangelical Protestants, 24% of other Protestants of color, 18% of Mormons, 16% of Hispanic Catholics, 14% of African American Protestants, 14% of other Christians, 13% of non-Christian religious people, 11% of White Catholics, 11% of religiously unaffiliated people, 10% of white mainline Protestants, and 8% of Jews.[326]
An analysis of four 2021 PRRI surveys showed that belief in QAnon increased in the U.S. after Trump left office. In March 2021, 14% of Americans considered themselves QAnon believers, increasing to 17% by October. In the average of the four surveys, about 22% of Americans believed that there was a "storm coming soon that will sweep away the elites in power", and 16% shared the core QAnon belief that the government, the media and the financial elite are controlled by Satanic pedophiles.[327][328] In 2024, another poll conduced by PPRI found that 19% of Americans believed in the core theories associated with QAnon, up from 14% in 2021, and that the number rose to 32% among Trump-supporting Republicans.[55]
Pastel QAnon
Main article: Pastel QAnon
Pastel QAnon, identified by Concordia University researcher Marc-Andr; Argentino,[329][330] is a collection of techniques aimed predominantly at indoctrinating women into the conspiracy theory, mainly on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.[331] It co-opts the aesthetics and language of social media influencers, often using personal anecdotes and gateway issues (i.e. child sex-trafficking) to frame QAnon beliefs as reasonable.[332]
Post-2020 election
Joe Biden's inauguration went against the expectations of QAnon followers, leading to the disillusionment of many.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, the rate of Q's posts sharply declined[69] and Q stopped posting altogether one month later. The last "drop" for 18 months was on December 8, 2020.[333] Mike Rothschild, author of a book on QAnon, said in 2021 that he doubted Q would ever come back, as the movement had "outgrown the need for new drops" and Trump's election loss had invalidated the core QAnon prophecy. But he added that Q might resume posting if "the community really needed new drops to keep it moving forward".[174]
The inauguration of Joe Biden as president was a major disappointment for QAnon followers, who were convinced that Biden had won the election through voter fraud and his victory would be invalidated. Many QAnon adherents believed that something momentous would happen during the ceremony, and Trump would remain in power. The inauguration ultimately went on as planned.[334] According to a book on the psychology of QAnon followers, Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon, "The inauguration was a particularly difficult prophecy to get wrong, and the result has been that some QAnon believers experienced deep melancholy, suicidal ideation, or engaged in self-harm".[335] On inauguration day, Ron Watkins wrote in a message board post: "We gave it our all, now we need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able. We have a new president sworn in and it is our responsibility to respect the Constitution."[336][337] Other QAnon followers believed Biden's inauguration was "part of the plan".[337][n]
Conservatives such as Steve Bannon and Bill Still denounced QAnon, calling it a psyop created by U.S. intelligence or the FBI.[343][344] In a leaked conversation, Michael Flynn, once among the highest-profile QAnon supporters, called it a "disinformation campaign to make people look like a bunch of kooks", suggesting that it might have been conducted by "the Left" or the CIA.[345]
After Biden's inauguration, analysts expressed concern that the disillusionment could lead hardline QAnon adherents to be recruited by groups such as the alt-right, white nationalists or neo-Nazis.[346]
A group of Telegram channels called the Sabmyk Network has been promoting a variation of QAnon by targeting followers of the conspiracy theory who have been disillusioned by Q's failures in prediction.[347] Set up by German artist Sebastian Bieniek, the network (described as a new religion or cult) shares QAnon beliefs[348] but also believes in a leader-prophet, Sabmyk, who will lead humanity's "awakening".[347] The network has tried to link Trump to Sabmyk.[348]
On June 24, 2022, Q, or someone who possesses their details, posted on 8kun after an 18-month hiatus.[349][350] The post claimed that Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified at the sixth public hearing on the January 6 Attack, was involved in a plot to disparage Trump.[351][352] Other Q posts were published in 2022, notably one suggesting that the midterm elections would be rigged, but these messages received much less engagement than previous "drops".[353][354] An article in Vice News suggested that this showed the QAnon movement had "moved past requiring new Q drops to bolster itself": journalists Mack Lamoureux and David Gilbert commented that during Q's absence, the QAnon community had continued formulating theories and other influencers had "stepped into the power vacuum". As a result, conspiracy theories had continued influencing public discourse, while conservative politics and media became infused with a "more watered-down version of QAnon".[353]
Commenting in 2022 on the influence of QAnon on public discourses, social scientist Donald Moynihan said that "the most vivid importation of the QAnon worldview" was the use of the term groomers and other phrases associated with the LGBT grooming conspiracy theory. He accused Christopher Rufo, one of its main promoters, of having "construct[ed] a new moral panic using QAnon messaging", which he likened to "the McCarthyite tactic of attaching a negative label" (in that case, pedophilia) to "people holding different beliefs".[355]
As of 2024, QAnon adherents are still active online. They rejoiced at Donald Trump's return to power. According to Mike Rothschild, even though there seems to be less interest than before in content analyzing Q's "drops", ideas that QAnon helped popularize such as the need to confront an evil "deep state" or anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, have become commonplace on the right. Rothschild commented that "QAnon as a movement based around secret codes and clues and riddles doesn't so much exist anymore. But it doesn't need to exist anymore because its tenets have become such a major part of mainstream conservatism and such a big part of the base of people that reelected Donald Trump".[55]
Incidents
Main article: Timeline of incidents involving QAnon
QAnon's followers have been part of controversial, sometimes violent events.[35] In 2020, QAnon followers were involved in the presidential election, during which they supported Trump's campaign. QAnon personalities moved to dedicated message boards, where they organized to wage information warfare to influence the election.[36][37] One in 50 tweets about voting in the 2020 United States presidential election came from QAnon accounts. Two in 25 accounts using the hashtag #voterfraud, which spread unsubstantiated allegations of voting fraud, were QAnon accounts.[356]
Vandalism of America's Stonehenge
In 2019, America's Stonehenge was vandalized with power tools.[357] On March 4, 2021, NH State Police arrested Mark L. Russo, a member of QAnon, and charged him with criminal mischief.[358] Two inscriptions were etched into the so-called "sacrificial table": the QAnon slogan WWG1WGA meaning "Where we go one, we go all" and IAMMARK, Russo's Twitter handle. By using a pseudonym to search social media researcher Chris Walters found photographs showing the site as well as items later found by the police. Later it was determined that two QAnon followers with adult sons who had died. Both believed that the "sacrifical table" was real and that their sons had been killed by a worldwide conspiracy led by Hillary Clinton in order to extract adrenochrome which they believed could renew life.[357]
Attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. election
January 6 United
States Capitol attack
Timeline • Planning
Background
2020 presidential election
and other causes
Previous claims of election fraud by President Trump in 2012in 2016Republican reactionsMichigan State Capitol storming2020–21 presidential election protests2021 Electoral College vote countAttempts to overturn the presidential election Trump fake electors plot Chesebro memosEastman memosJeffrey Clark letterDemocratic backsliding in the USSocial media use by Donald TrumpTrumpism QAnonDonald Trump and fascism
Related groups and persons
Participants
Notable people
Organizations
Law enforcement response
Aftermath
Biden inauguration
Investigations and charges
Corporate actions
Reactions
Impeachment and 2024 presidential election
vte
QAnon followers supported the efforts of Trump's legal team to overturn the election through multiple lawsuits and submitted conspiracy theories of their own. They theorized that voting machines made by Dominion Voting Systems had deleted millions of votes for Trump. This was repeated on the far-right cable news outlet One America News Network, and Trump tweeted the segment to his followers.[359][360]
One specific QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theory, known as Italygate and pushed in the last weeks of Trump's presidency, alleged that the American election had been rigged using technology from the United States Embassy in Rome with the help of an Italian hacker, an Italian general and the Vatican.[361][362][363]
Several elected leaders, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Arizona House Election Chairwoman Kelly Townsend were well known QAnon adherents before the 2020 election and who helped lead attempts to overturn the election in the aftermath.[364][365][366] In June 2020, Townsend posted a QAnon video with a flaming "Q" to her social media and followed high-profile QAnon accounts.[364] Some local Arizona politics reporters have referred to Townsend as the QAnon Queen of the Legislature.[367]
Based on a misinterpretation of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 by the sovereign citizen movement,[368] according to which it transformed the federal government into a corporation and rendered illegitimate every president elected thereafter, some QAnon followers claimed that the 18th president (Ulysses S. Grant, in office from 1869 to 1877) was the last legitimate president. They believed that Trump would be sworn in as the 19th president on March 4, 2021. The original inauguration date until the Twentieth Amendment changed it to January 20 in 1933, and that he would restore the federal government.[369] Based on intelligence that an identified but undisclosed militia group might attempt an attack on the Capitol on that date, the U.S. Capitol Police issued an alert on March 3. House leadership subsequently rescheduled a March 4 vote to the previous night to allow lawmakers to leave town.[370]
The Anti-Defamation League, British security firm G4S, and nonpartisan governance watchdog Advance Democracy Inc, studied QAnon posts and warned of the potential for violence on January 6, 2021.[371][372][373] Violence did occur that day, as the attempts to overturn the election culminated with the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Multiple QAnon-affiliated protesters participated in the disturbance. Rioters were either seen wearing clothing with Q-related emblems or identified as QAnon followers from video footage.[374][375] One participant whose attire and behavior attracted worldwide media attention was Jake Angeli, a QAnon supporter nicknamed the "QAnon Shaman".[376] Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot dead by police as she was trying to break into the Speaker's Lobby, was a committed follower of QAnon.[377][378] The day before the attack, she had tweeted: "the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours".[379]
The attack led to a crackdown on QAnon content on social media.[380][53] On April 19, 2021, the Soufan Center reported that Russia and China had amplified and "weaponized" QAnon at the time of the Capitol attack "to sow societal discord and even compromise legitimate political processes."[381][382]
German coup attempt
Main article: 2022 German coup d';tat plot
Several QAnon adherents were charged with participation in the 2022 coup d';tat plot in Germany, which involved groups of far-right activists and conspiracy theorists, such as the Reichsb;rger movement.[383]
Reactions
Media, advocacy groups, and public figures
Journalists have debunked QAnon's basic tenets.[384] In 2018, The Washington Post called its proponents "a deranged conspiracy cult"[160] and "some of the Internet's most outr; Trump fans".[316]
In December 2017, the Russian television network RT aired a segment discussing "QAnon revelations", calling the anonymous poster a "secret intelligence operative inside the Trump administration known by QAnon".[66] On March 13, 2018, Cheryl Sullenger, vice president of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, called QAnon a "small group of insiders close to President Donald J. Trump" and called their posts the "highest level of intelligence to ever be dropped publicly in our known history".[385][386] On March 15, Kyiv-based Rabochaya Gazeta [uk], the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Ukraine, published an article calling QAnon a "military intelligence group".[387] On March 31, actor Roseanne Barr appeared to promote QAnon, covered by CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.[388][389][390][391] Radio talk show host Lionel became an outspoken QAnon supporter.[392] In April and October 2021, actor Jim Caviezel appeared at conservative conferences and endorsed aspects of the QAnon.[393][394]
In June 2018, a Time magazine article listed Q among the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet in 2018. Counting more than 130,000 related discussion videos on YouTube, Time cited the wide range of the conspiracy theory and its more prominent followers and news coverage.[395] On July 4, the Hillsborough County Republican Party shared on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts a YouTube video on QAnon, calling them a "mysterious anonymous inside leaker of deep state activities and counter activities by President Trump". The posts were soon deleted.[396]
In August 2018, following the presence of QAnon supporters at Trump's Tampa, Florida rally for the midterm elections,[160][397] MSNBC news anchors Hallie Jackson, Brian Williams, and Chris Hayes dedicated portions of their programs to the conspiracy theory.[398][399][400] PBS NewsHour also ran a segment on QAnon the next day.[401] In August, Washington Post editorial writer Molly Roberts wrote, "'The storm' QAnon truthers predict will never strike because the conspiracy that obsesses them doesn't exist. But while they wait for it, they'll try to whip up the winds, and the rest of us will struggle to find shelter."[402]
Official responses
FBI domestic terrorism assessment
A QAnon emblem (upper left) is raised during the 2021 Capitol attack.
A QAnon emblem (upper left) being raised on Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021, shortly before the building was stormed
In May 2019, an FBI "Intelligence Bulletin" memo from the Phoenix field office identified QAnon-driven extremists as a domestic terrorism threat. The document cited arrests related to QAnon, some of which had not been publicized before.[403] According to the memo, "This is the first FBI product examining the threat from conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists and provides a baseline for future intelligence products. ... The FBI assesses these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts."[403][404]
According to FBI's counterterrorism director Michael G. McGarrity's testimony before Congress in May, the FBI divides domestic terrorism threats into four primary categories, "racially motivated violent extremism, anti-government/anti-authority extremism, animal rights/environmental extremism, and abortion extremism", which includes both abortion-rights and anti-abortion extremists. The fringe conspiracy theory threat is closely related to the anti-government/anti-authority subject area.[403][404] On December 19, 2018, a Californian man whose car contained bomb-making materials he intended to use to "blow up a satanic temple monument" in the Springfield, Illinois, Capitol rotunda to "make Americans aware of Pizzagate and the New World Order, who were dismantling society" was arrested.[403] The FBI said another factor driving the intensity of anti-government extremism is "the uncovering of real conspiracies or cover-ups involving illegal, harmful, or unconstitutional activities by government officials or leading political figures".[403]
Congressional resolution
In August 2020, two U.S. Representatives, Democrat Tom Malinowski and Republican Denver Riggleman, introduced a bipartisan simple resolution (H. Res. 1154) condemning QAnon.[405][406] Malinowski said the resolution's aim was to repudiate "this dangerous, anti-Semitic, conspiracy-mongering cult that the FBI says is radicalizing Americans to violence".[405] The resolution urged law enforcement and homeland security agencies "to continue to strengthen their focus on preventing violence, threats, harassment, and other criminal activity by extremists motivated by fringe political conspiracy theories" and encouraged the U.S. intelligence community "to uncover any foreign support, assistance, or online amplification QAnon receives, as well as any QAnon affiliations, coordination, and contacts with foreign extremist organizations or groups espousing violence".[406]
In September 2020, Malinowski received death threats from QAnon followers after being falsely accused of wanting to protect sexual predators. The threats were prompted by a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) campaign advertisement that falsely claimed that Malinowski worked against plans to increase registration for sex offenders in a 2006 crime bill while he was working as a lobbyist for Human Rights Watch.[407][408]
The resolution passed on October 2, 2020, in a 371–18 vote.[406][407] Seventeen Republicans (including Steve King, Paul Gosar, and Daniel Webster) and one independent (Justin Amash) voted no; Republican Andy Harris voted "present".[406][407] According to Will Sommer in The Daily Beast, the resolution does not have the force of law.[409] Before the vote, Malinowski told Slate magazine, referencing the NRCC ad: "I don't want to see any Republicans voting against fire on the House floor this week and then continuing to play with fire next week by running these kinds of ads against Democratic candidates."[410]
Republican individuals and organizations
Jo Rae Perkins, Republican nominee for the 2020 United States Senate election in Oregon, being interviewed by QAnon influencer Dustin Nemos
In 2019, two Republican congressional candidates expressed support for QAnon theories.[411][412] In early 2020, Jim Watkins created the "Disarm the Deep State" super PAC, whose stated aim was to "mobilize a community of patriots in order to remove power from Deep State members".[413] In November 2020, it was reported that the PAC had raised just $4,736, including a $500 loan from Watkins's lawyer.[414]
In 2020, there were 97 QAnon followers in the primaries, of whom 22 Republicans and two independents ran in the elections of that year.[415] Businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene won an August 2020 runoff to become the GOP nominee in the 14th Congressional District in Georgia. In 2020, she said many of Q's claims "have really proven to be true".[416] Months into the Trump presidency, she stated in a video: "There's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it".[417][418] Jo Rae Perkins, the 2020 Republican Senate candidate in Oregon, tweeted a video on the night of her May primary victory showing her holding a WWG1WGA sticker and stating that she "[stood] with Q and the team. Thank you Anons, and thank you patriots." She expressed regret at having later deleted the video on the advice of a political consultant.[419] The next month she took the "digital soldiers oath" that Q had requested followers to do three days earlier.[420][421]
On June 30, 2020, incumbent Republican U.S. representative Scott Tipton lost a primary for Colorado's 3rd congressional district to Lauren Boebert in an upset. Boebert expressed tentative support for QAnon in an interview, but after winning the primary, attempted to distance herself from those statements, saying "I'm not a follower."[422][423] Boebert was elected to Congress that November.[424] Angela Stanton-King, a Trump-backed candidate running for the Georgia House seat of the late congressman John Lewis, posted on Twitter that Black Lives Matter is "a major cover up for pedophilia and human trafficking" and "the storm is here". Stanton-King told a reporter that her posts did not relate to QAnon, asserting, "It was raining that day." Weather records did not show precipitation in her area on the day of the post.[425]
In August 2020, The New York Times said that the Texas Republican Party's new slogan ("We Are the Storm") was taken from Q. Texas Republican Party officials denied this, saying it was inspired by a biblical passage and has no connection to QAnon.[426][427] In May 2021, representative Louie Gohmert and Texas Republican Party chairman Allen West attended the "For God & Country: Patriot Roundup" conference organized by QAnon followers in Dallas.[40]
Also in August 2020, representative Liz Cheney became the highest-ranking House Republican to take a stand against QAnon, which she called a "dangerous lunacy that should have no place in American politics". Other Republican Party members who have spoken out against QAnon include senator Ben Sasse, former Florida governor Jeb Bush[428] and senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney.[429] In March 2021, representative Peter Meijer said that the Republican Party should unequivocally condemn QAnon and other conspiracy theories, and commented: "The fact that a significant plurality, if not potentially a majority, of our voters have been deceived into this creation of an alternate reality could very well be an existential threat to the party". Representative Adam Kinzinger launched a PAC called "Country First", aimed at countering conspiracy theories and Donald Trump.[430]
In April 2024, the Washington Post published an article saying that since 2021 QAnon had "mostly evaporated" after Q stopped posting new messages, but that the movement and its worldview had "largely been folded into the broader Republican Party".[431]
Donald Trump
According to Media Matters for America, as of August 2020, Trump had amplified QAnon messaging at least 216 times by retweeting or mentioning 129 QAnon-affiliated Twitter accounts, sometimes multiple times a day.[432][19] QAnon followers came to refer to Trump as "Q+".[78] On August 24, 2018, Trump hosted Michael William "Lionel" Lebron, a leading QAnon promoter, in the Oval Office for a photo op.[433] Shortly after Christmas 2019, Trump retweeted over a dozen QAnon followers.[434]
On August 19, 2020, Trump was asked about QAnon during a press conference; he replied: "I don't know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate."[435][436] An FBI Field Office in Phoenix has called QAnon a potential domestic terror threat, but Trump called QAnon followers "people who love our country".[435][437] When a reporter asked Trump if he could support a notion that suggests he "is secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals", he responded: "Well, I haven't heard that, but is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?" Presidential candidate Joe Biden responded that Trump was aiming to "legitimize a conspiracy theory that the FBI has identified as a domestic terrorism threat".[438][439]
On October 15, 2020, when given the opportunity to denounce QAnon at a "town hall"-style campaign event, Trump refused to do so and instead pointed out that QAnon opposes pedophilia.[440] He said he knew nothing else about QAnon and told his questioner, Savannah Guthrie of NBC News, that no one can know whether the premise of QAnon's conspiracy theory is true. "They believe it is a satanic cult run by the deep state," Guthrie informed him. When Guthrie asserted that the conspiracy was not true, Trump responded, "No, I don't know that. And neither do you know that."[441]
In September 2022, an Associated Press analysis found that Trump was embracing QAnon more openly than before. Trump was reposting Q drops and QAnon memes on Truth Social, and more than a third of the accounts he had reposted in the last month had themselves shared QAnon slogans, videos or imagery. Trump has played the song Mirrors at public events. The song has been associated with QAnon since it was re-published as WWG1WGA by a YouTube user named "Richard Feelgood". The song's author, Will van de Crommert, has disavowed Trump and QAnon.[442][443][444]
Mike Pence
On August 21, 2020, Vice President Mike Pence said that he did not "know anything about" QAnon except that it was a conspiracy theory that he "dismisse[d] out of hand".[445] When asked whether he would acknowledge the administration's role in "giving oxygen" to the belief, Pence shook his head and said, "Give me a break."[445] Pence also commented that the media giving attention to QAnon amounted to "[chasing] shiny objects".[446]
After the election, as the date of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count approached and Pence showed no intention of blocking the certification of Biden's win, QAnon figures vilified him as a traitor.[447] After Pence's lawyers fought a lawsuit that aimed to make him refuse to count electoral votes for Biden, Lin Wood said that Pence would "face execution by firing squad" for "treason".[448] A few hours before the count started on January 6, Wood tweeted that Pence should resign immediately and that charges should be brought against him.[449] After the attack on the Capitol, Wood called Pence a "child molester" on Twitter.[450] After his Twitter account was suspended, Wood used Parler to call again for Pence's execution by firing squad.[451]
Michael Flynn
Further information: Michael Flynn § Political views
Former lieutenant general and head of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn, who served as Trump's National Security Advisor, became popular among QAnon followers, who took a 2016 quote from Flynn about Trump having been elected by an "army of digital soldiers"[452] and started calling themselves "digital soldiers".[235] QAnon followers also adopted three stars as a symbol to display solidarity with Flynn, as a reference to Flynn having been a three-star general in the U.S. army.[453][454]
Michael Flynn was one of QAnon's most high-profile promoters, before appearing to reject the conspiracy theory in late 2021.
In August 2019, a "Digital Soldiers Conference" was announced for the next month in Atlanta. The stated purpose was to prepare "patriotic social media warriors" for a coming "digital civil war" against "censorship and suppression". The announcement of the event prominently displayed a Q spelled in stars on the blue field of an American flag, with the three stars making up the tail of the "Q" being highlighted separately to reference Flynn's military status.[455][456] Scheduled speakers for the event, which was hosted by Yippy CEO Rich Granville,[457] included Flynn and George Papadopoulos, as well as Gina Loudon, a Trump friend and member of his campaign media advisory board, singer Joy Villa, and Bill Mitchell, a radio host and ardent Trump supporter.[455][456]
On July 4, 2020, Flynn posted to his Twitter account a video of himself leading a small group in an oath with the QAnon motto, "Where we go one, we go all".[458] Analysts said the oath was part of QAnon's attempt to organize "digital soldiers" for the political and social apocalypse they see coming. Flynn's apparent declaration of allegiance to QAnon made him the most prominent former government official to endorse the conspiracy theory.[38] Member of Trump's legal team and Flynn's representative Sidney Powell denied that the oath was related to QAnon.[o] During the preceding days, numerous QAnon followers took the same "digital soldier oath" on Twitter, and used the same #TakeTheOath hashtag Flynn did.[461][462]
After his November 2020 pardon and the election results, Flynn became more closely associated with QAnon, endorsing a website that sold QAnon merchandise,[235] creating a Digital Soldiers media company,[39] and saying he planned to launch a news media outlet also called "Digital soldiers".[235] He appeared on various far-right media, pushing QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theories. Flynn's activism fueled speculation among QAnon followers that he would help them take control,[39] or that he was Q himself.[235] QAnon supporters expressed their commitment in social media posts by using the phrase "Fight like a Flynn" or variations thereof.[184]
A modified version of the American flag with ten white stars and three gold stars forming a letter Q in the canton
A QAnon flag based on the flag of the United States, similar to the one used to advertise the aforementioned "Digital Soldiers Conference"[455]
In February 2021, several weeks after the Capitol riot, Flynn distanced himself from QAnon theories by saying in an interview: "There's no plan. There's so many people out there asking, 'Is the plan happening?' We have what we have, and we have to accept the situation as it is." But he did not outright disavow the QAnon movement.[39] In May 2021, Flynn was a keynote speaker at the "For God & Country: Patriot Roundup" conference organized in Dallas, Texas by QAnon influencer John Sabal.[40][463] At the end of the year, though, Flynn appeared to have rejected QAnon as a whole.[345]
In March 2021, Flynn's brother, retired lieutenant general Jack Flynn, and his wife filed a $75 million defamation suit against CNN, alleging the network had falsely accused them of being QAnon followers. They asserted that the video Flynn had posted in July 2020, which CNN had broadcast, depicted their pledging an oath to the Constitution, not to QAnon. The suit claimed Flynn alone had recited the QAnon motto, "where we go one, we go all", though the video showed all the other participants had done so. The plaintiffs also said they "are not followers or supporters of any extremist or terrorist groups, including QAnon".[464][465][38] In December 2021, federal district court judge Gregory Howard Woods largely rejected CNN's motion to dismiss the case, allowing it to proceed to determine whether the Flynns had been portrayed in a false light.[466]
Lin Wood
Further information: L. Lin Wood § 2020 elections and QAnon
Lawyer Lin Wood promoted QAnon and other conspiracy theories as part of his attempts to overturn the election and discredit Supreme Court justices.
Lin Wood, a lawyer who worked with Trump's reelection campaign and participated in the election lawsuits, promoted QAnon conspiracy theories. His Twitter profile included the hashtag #WWG1WGA, a slogan associated with QAnon.[42] Among other baseless QAnon-associated claims, he accused Chief Justice John Roberts of child rape and murder. Wood also claimed that QAnon supporter Isaac Kappy was murdered for attempting to transmit information to Trump.[43] On January 11, 2021, Delaware Superior Court Judge Craig A. Karsnitz cited Wood's social media postings in his reasons for an order revoking Wood's right to appear before the court.[44] Karsnitz said that he had "no doubt" that Wood's tweets played a role in inciting the attack on the Capitol.[45]
Sidney Powell
Main article: Sidney Powell
Attorney Sidney Powell, a member of Trump's legal team, denied knowledge of QAnon in January 2020,[51] though in the following months she retweeted major QAnon accounts and catchphrases and appeared on QAnon channels on YouTube.[50]
After leaving Trump's team, Powell remained involved in post-election lawsuits and was embraced by QAnon followers, discouraged that predictions of a Trump landslide victory and coming revelations about his enemies had not materialized.[49] Powell's evidence in the lawsuit she filed in Georgia to overturn the election result included an affidavit from Ron Watkins. In this document, Watkins stated that his reading of an online user guide for Dominion Voting Systems software led him to conclude that election fraud might be "within the realm of possibility". Watkins did not provide any evidence of fraud.[48]
In May 2021, Powell asserted that Trump "can simply be reinstated", that "a new inauguration date is set". The date for this was supposedly August 13 of the same year.[47]
Kelly Townsend
Former Arizona State Senator Kelly Townsend is a longtime conspiracy theorist, feeding conspiracies such as the Obama birther conspiracy to Trump before he was elected.[467][468][469] She posted the QAnon "Q" symbol to her social media account in 2018 and has consistently aligned with QAnon theories, including calling all vaccines "communist".[470] In 2021, Townsend supported activists active in the election denial movement in a spirit similar to the events that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, urging parents to take control of school board meetings related to COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates.[471] Throughout the process of securing the Arizona audit conducted by QAnon conspiracy theorist Doug Logan from Cyber Ninjas, Townsend worked closely with QAnon adherent Liz Harris, who rented one of her condos to QAnon board owner Ron Watkins so he could run for office in Arizona in 2022.[472][473]
Along with Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and 2020 Maricopa County Sheriff candidate and then chief Arpaio staffer Jerry Sheridan, Townsend worked with informant Dennis Montgomery.[474] In 2020, she worked with Corsi again, claiming the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and emailing Corsi a document of Arizona senators endorsing Trump electors in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election.[475] In the lead-up to January 6, 2021, Townsend sponsored a bill that would designate Trump electors from Arizona and promoted the Arizona audit and stolen election claims.[476][477]
Liz Harris
When Ron Watkins, son of Jim Watkins, who owned the image board that QAnon posts were posted on, came to the U.S. from Japan to run for Congress, he listed a property owned by Liz Harris who is also a prominent QAnon influencer, as his primary address.[478] After QAnon supporter Kelly Townsend was voted out of office in Arizona during the 2022 midterms, Harris was elected for a short time before being expelled for lying during an ethics investigation that was investigating her for promotion of conspiracies.[479][480]
Kash Patel
Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has actively promoted QAnon. On Truth Social, Patel promoted an account with the handle @Q, which distributed messages related to the conspiratorial movement. According to Media Matters, Patel has shared an image featuring a flaming Q on it and has gone on multiple QAnon shows in order to urge members to join Truth Social.[481] Patel said in 2022 that Truth Social was trying to adopt QAnon "into our overall messaging scheme to capture audiences", and that the figurehead of the QAnon movement "should get credit for all the things he has accomplished".[482][483] Patel has appeared on multiple far-right podcasts promoting conspiracy theories such as on Stew Peters, and appeared over 50 times in at least a dozen podcasts that have promoted the QAnon movement.[484] Patel has signed ten copies of his children's book about "King Donald" with the QAnon motto "WWG1WGA". He has also promoted the #WWG1WGA hashtag on Truth Social.[481]
Online
QDrops app
QDrops, an app that promoted the conspiracy theory, was published on the Apple App Store and Google Play.[485] It became the most popular paid app in Apple's online store's "entertainment" section in April 2018, and the tenth-most popular paid app overall. It was published by Tiger Team Inc, a North Carolina couple, Richard and Adalita Brown.[486][487][488] On July 15, 2018, Apple pulled the app after an inquiry from NBC News.[489]
In mid-May 2020, Google removed three other apps – QMAP, Q Alerts! and Q Alerts LITE – from the Android app store for violating its terms of service.[490][491]
Anti-QAnon subreddits
Some social media forums, such as the subreddits r/QAnonCasualties and r/ReQovery, aim to assist either former followers and supporters of QAnon conspiracies or those whose family members engaged in the conspiracy.[311]
Removal of content
In March 2018, Reddit banned one of its communities discussing QAnon, /r/CBTS_Stream, for "encouraging or inciting violence and posting personal and confidential information".[492] Some followers moved to Discord.[493] Several other communities were formed for discussion of QAnon, leading to further bans on September 12, 2018, in response to these communities "inciting violence, harassment, and the dissemination of personal information", which led to thousands of followers regrouping on Voat,[494] a Switzerland-based Reddit clone that has been described as a hub for the alt-right.[495][496] In early 2019, Twitter removed accounts suspected of being connected to the Russian Internet Research Agency that had disseminated a high volume of QAnon-related tweets that used the #WWG1WGA slogan.[21]
In May 2020, Facebook announced its removal of five pages, 20 accounts, and six groups linked to "individuals associated with the QAnon network" as part of an investigation into "suspected coordinated inauthentic behavior" ahead of the 2020 United States election.[497][498] On August 19, Facebook expanded its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy to address "growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them, or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior". As a result of this increased vigilance, Facebook reported having already "removed over 790 groups, 100 Pages and 1,500 ads tied to QAnon from Facebook, blocked over 300 hashtags across Facebook and Instagram, and additionally imposed restrictions on over 1,950 Groups and 440 Pages on Facebook and over 10,000 accounts on Instagram".[499][500][501] In the month after its August announcement, Facebook said it deleted 1,500 QAnon groups; such groups by then had four million followers. In October 2020, Facebook said it would immediately begin removing "any Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts representing QAnon, even if they contain no violent content". The company said it would immediately ban any group representing QAnon.[502][503][504]
In July 2020, Twitter announced it was banning more than 7,000 accounts connected to QAnon for coordinated amplification of fake news and conspiracy theories. In a press release, Twitter said, "We've been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm. In line with this approach, this week we are taking further action on so-called 'QAnon' activity across the service." It also said that the actions could apply to over 150,000 accounts.[505][506]
Facebook banned all QAnon groups and pages in October 2020. That day, QAnon followers speculated that the action was part of a complex Trump administration strategy to begin arresting its enemies, or that Facebook was attempting to silence news of this occurring; neither is true. Some followers speculated that a Justice Department "national security" news conference scheduled for the next day would relate to charges against Democrats, including Hillary Clinton. The Justice Department actually announced the investigation and arrest of Islamic State members.[507] Etsy also announced that it would remove all QAnon-related merchandise from its online marketplace.[508] The products were still available there as of January 2021.[509]
In an interview with CNN, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said much QAnon material was "borderline content" that did not explicitly break its rules, but that changes in the site's methodology for recommendations had reduced views of QAnon-related content by 80%.[510] Three days later, YouTube announced that it had modified its hate and harassment policies to bar "content that targets an individual or group with conspiracy theories that have been used to justify real-world violence", such as QAnon and Pizzagate.[511][512] It would still allow content discussing QAnon if it did not target individuals.[513]
Hashtags and accounts associated with QAnon have since been banned by numerous social networks including Facebook,[514][515] Twitter,[516] TikTok,[517] and Instagram.[518] In particular, the 2021 United States Capitol attack led to a crackdown on QAnon-related content on social media platforms during the days that followed. Twitter suspended Lin Wood's account on January 7[519] and those of Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn and other high-profile QAnon figures the next day.[520] On January 12, Facebook and Twitter announced that they were removing "Stop the Steal" content and suspending 70,000 QAnon-focused accounts, respectively.[380][53] More waves of deletions followed on various platforms.[54] Amazon removed a pro-QAnon book after the Capitol riots, and many platforms took action against QAnon-related content after the incident.[521] In May 2021, a report published by the Atlantic Council concluded that QAnon content was "evaporating" from the mainstream web.[174]
Migration to alt-tech
The mass deletions of QAnon-related accounts on the most popular social media outlets led many members of the movement to migrate to alt-tech platforms. Notably, Parler grew in popularity among QAnon followers and conservatives in general in early 2021.[p] Gab also became increasingly popular in these environments, especially after Parler went offline for several weeks following the Capitol attack.[527]
In the course of 2021, various alt-tech platforms allowed QAnon influencers and adherents to regroup, with Gab and Telegram becoming particularly important hubs of QAnon communities.[528][529][291]
Return to Twitter/X
In April 2022, QAnon followers celebrated Elon Musk's proposed purchase of Twitter, believing that Musk's free speech approach would allow them back onto the platform.[530] After Musk acquired the platform in October of the same year, various QAnon-related accounts were reinstated and resumed posting about the conspiracy theory.[531] By December the conspiracy theory began to make a comeback on Twitter.[532][533] Suspected Q author Ron Watkins was subsequently reinstated on the platform in January 2023,[534] while in March Musk defended the "QAnon shamon" by calling for Jacob Chansley to be freed.[535][536] In May, the Anti-Defamation League documented a surge of QAnon content on Twitter, now X, described as a resurgence.[537]
See also
Conservatism portal
icon Politics portal
flag United States portal
Apophenia, the tendency to perceive connections and meaning between unrelated things
Cult of personality
List of conspiracy theories
Secret decoder ring, a promotional item that taps into a common fascination with secret codes
Sound of Freedom, 2023 film with alleged ties to the QAnon movement
"Epstein didn't kill himself"
Radical Right
Satanic Panic
Notes
The term originally referred to the anonymous poster "Q", but the media soon used the compound "QAnon" as a collective term for either the conspiracy theory or the far-right community driving and discussing it.
The other circular patch is the SWAT team emblem. Regulations forbid wearing either.[79]
After a line of dialogue from the film The Matrix, which in turn referenced Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"HRC extradition already in motion effective yesterday with several countries in case of cross border run. Passport approved to be flagged effective 10/30 @ 12:01 am. Expect massive riots organized in defiance and others fleeing the US to occur. US M's will conduct the operation while NG activated. Proof check: Locate an NG member and ask if activated for duty 10/30 across most major cities." —QAnon's first post on the /pol/ message board of 4chan, on October 28, 2017[146]
The parade was canceled.
A claim made in April 2018
Dorsey remained CEO of Twitter until November 2021, when he was replaced by Parag Agrawal.
This is a version of the Seth Rich murder conspiracy theory, which is connected to the broader Clinton body count conspiracy theory, that had developed in the 1990s.[153] The claims of this conspiracy theory were propagated from the same venues as Pizzagate,[154] and both shared common attributes.[155][156]
Adrenochrome has become the subject of a number of myths since Hunter S. Thompson mentioned it in his 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.[182][183]
That author being the "Original Q" under the multiple individuals hypothesis
Derived from the 1996 film White Squall and sometimes misattributed to John F. Kennedy.[256]
A reference to The Matrix, like the "Follow the White rabbit" slogan.
Mendoza sits on the advisory board of Women for Trump and was scheduled to speak at the 2020 Republican convention until news of her Twitter activity came out;[288] she later denied knowing the content of the thread.[289]
Some thought that Biden's inauguration was pre-recorded, with Trump being sworn in as President in a secret ceremony away from the cameras.[338] Others thought that the inauguration was illegitimate because Biden was sworn in on a leather-bound bible (which Q supporters incorrectly say meant he didn't actually swear on the Bible),[339] or that the Bible he was sworn in on was related to the Freemasons or the Illuminati in preparation for a New World Order (it was actually a Catholic Bible).[340] Others thought the inauguration was legitimate, a part of a ruse by Trump to entrap Biden and the deep state.[339] Some posited that Trump would actually rule as "shadow President" during Biden's term, and others that Biden had been part of QAnon all along and would be the one bringing down the cabal.[341] Many focused on the idea that there were 17 flags on the dais that Trump gave his farewell address on, and the fact that Q is the 17th letter of the alphabet.[342]
She said it was engraved on a bell on John F. Kennedy's sailboat. This is not true, although the quote has been attributed to Kennedy by Q. Kennedy's sailboat, Victura, did not have a bell, and the phrase does not appear on the Kennedy family's yacht, the Honey Fitz. The phrase is shown on a boat in the 1996 movie White Squall, and screenshots from this movie have been spread by QAnon followers as supposed proof of their claims.[459][460]
A lot of Parler's content related to QAnon or far-right extremist ideologies,[522][523] and it was taken down by Amazon Web Services in the days following the Capitol attack.[524] Although mentions of QAnon or related hashtags on Parler were lower than mainstream platforms' slowest days,[525] Parler conversations were less critical of the movement, and tended to focus on support for Trump.[526]
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Rothschild 2021, pp. 9, 28, 175.
Rothschild 2021, p. 21.
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Multiple sources:[38][39][40]
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Kessler, Jack (February 11, 2021). "What are Trump's QAnon Twitter mob up to now?". The Standard. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Culliford, Elizabeth (May 26, 2021). "QAnon slogans disappearing from mainstream sites, say researchers". Reuters. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Sipka, Andrea; Hannak, Aniko; Urman, Aleksandra (2022). "Comparing the Language of QAnon-Related Content on Parler, Gab, and Twitter". 14th ACM Web Science Conference 2022. pp. 411–421. arXiv:2111.11118. doi:10.1145/3501247.3531550. ISBN 9781450391917. S2CID 244477922.
Andrews, Travis M. (January 11, 2021). "Gab, the social network that has welcomed Qanon and extremist figures, explained". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Wildon, Jordan; Argentino, Marc-Andr; (July 28, 2021). "QAnon is not Dead: New Research into Telegram Shows the Movement is Alive and Well". Gnet-research.org. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
Andrews, Travis M. (January 11, 2021). "Gab, the social network that has welcomed Qanon and extremist figures, explained". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
Gilbert, David (April 26, 2022). "QAnon Thinks Elon Musk Is Going to Let Them Back on Twitter". Vice News. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
Thompson, Stuart A. (December 22, 2022). "Musk Lifted Bans for Thousands on Twitter. Here's What They're Tweeting". The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
Harwell, Drew (December 15, 2022). "QAnon, adrift after Trump's defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk's Twitter". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
Woodward, Alex (December 6, 2022). "QAnon, racism and 'informational anarchy': Experts on how Elon Musk changed Twitter". The Independent. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
Ramirez, Nikki McCann (January 10, 2023). "Twitter Reinstates QAnon Kingpin Ron Watkins". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
Roush, Ty (March 11, 2023). "Elon Musk Joins Right-Wing Support For 'QAnon Shaman' Claiming Jan. 6 Footage 'Misleading'". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
Binder, Matt (March 11, 2023). "Elon Musk's latest project: Defending the QAnon Shaman and his role on Jan. 6". Mashable. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
"QAnon is Resurgent on Twitter". Anti-Defamation League. Center on Extremism. May 22, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
Bibliography
Bloom, Mia; Moskalenko, Sophia (2021). Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1503630291.
Bloom, Mia; Rollings, Rachael (2022). "Introduction to the Special Issue: Losing My Religion: Evangelicalism and the Gospel of Q". Journal of Religion and Violence. 10 (1): 1–15. doi:10.5840/jrv20221011. ISSN 2159-6808.
Cook, Jesselyn (2024). The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 9780593443255.
Ingersoll, Julie (2022). "America's Holy Trinity: How Conspiracism, Apocalypticism, and Persecution Narratives Set Us up for Crisis". Journal of Religion and Violence. 10 (1): 73–88. doi:10.5840/jrv202281698. ISSN 2159-6808.
Rothschild, Mike (2021). The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything. Melville House. ISBN 978-1612199306.
Sommer, Will (2023). Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America. New York: Harper. ISBN 9780063114487.
Further reading
Badham, Van (2022). QAnon and On: A Short and Shocking History of the Internet Conspiracy Cults: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults. Melbourne: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 9781743797877. OCLC 1285976834. Excerpt.
Beverley, James A. (2020). The QAnon Deception: Everything You Need to Know about the World's Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theory. EqualTime Books. ISBN 979-8582465898.
Bleakley, Paul (2021). "Panic, Pizza and Mainstreaming the Alt-Right: A Social Media Analysis of Pizzagate and the Rise of the QAnon Conspiracy". Current Sociology: 00113921211034896. doi:10.1177/00113921211034896.
Breland, Ali (August 20, 2020). "The Summer QAnon Went Mainstream". Mother Jones. Foundation for National Progress. Archived from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
Breland, Ali (June 3, 2024). "How Q Became Everything". Mother Jones. Foundation for National Progress.
Enders, Adam M.; Uscinski, Joseph E.; Klofstad, Casey A.; Wuchty, Stefan; Seelig, Michelle I.; Funchion, John R.; Murthi, Manohar N.; Premaratne, Kamal; Stoler, Justin (2022). "Who Supports QAnon? A Case Study in Political Extremism". The Journal of Politics. 84 (3). University of Chicago Press: 1844–1849. doi:10.1086/717850. S2CID 232161773.
Forberg, Peter L. (2022). "'No Cult Tells You to Think for Yourself': Discursive Ideology and the Limits of Rationality in Conspiracy Theory QAnon" (subscription required). American Behavioral Scientist. doi:10.1177/00027642221091199.
Hodwitz, Omi, Steff King, and Jordan Thompson (2022). "QAnon: The Calm Before the Storm". Society: 1–12. doi:10.1007/s12115-022-00688-x.
Westmark, Colton; Adam, McMahon (2022). "Identifying QAnon Conspiracy Theory Adherent Types". New Political Science. 44 (4). Taylor & Francis: 607–627. doi:10.1080/07393148.2022.2129927. S2CID 252980185.
External links
Look up QAnon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to QAnon.
Wikiquote has quotations related to QAnon.
Dunning, Brian (July 28, 2020). "Skeptoid #738: The QAnon Conspiracy". Skeptoid. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
"QAnon Offenders in the United States" (PDF). University of Maryland. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS). May 26, 2021.
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Recording
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Publication
Reactions
Media and legal profession attention
Involved parties
Billy Bush
People and entities mentioned by Trump
Melania Trump
Republican Party
Calls to drop campaign
Withdrawal of political support
Trump's responses
Effects and aftermath
Clinton–Trump debates
Assault stories
Response of athletes and coaches
Anti-Trump memes and campaigns
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E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit
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Donald Trump in 2008 and Billy Bush in 2006
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On October 7, 2016, one month before the United States presidential election that year, The Washington Post published a video and article about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and television host Billy Bush having a lewd conversation about women in September 2005. Trump and Bush were on a bus on their way to film an episode of Access Hollywood, a show owned by NBCUniversal. In the video, Trump described his attempt to seduce a married woman and indicated he might start kissing a woman that he and Bush were about to meet. He added, "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."[1] Many commentators and lawyers described such an action as sexual assault.[2] Others argued that the remarks were an assertion that sexual consent is easier to obtain for the famous and wealthy.[3]
News of the recording broke two days before the second 2016 presidential debate between Trump, the Republican nominee, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump gave a statement in which he apologized for the video's content, but he attempted to deflect attention by saying that Hillary's husband Bill Clinton had "said far worse to me on the golf course".[4] The recording provoked strong reactions by media figures and politicians across the political spectrum. Statements from Republican officials varied. Some, including Trump's vice-presidential running mate Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, indicated their disapproval of Trump's words but did not renounce their support or call for his resignation from the ticket. Other Republicans, most prominently former presidential nominee John McCain, stated that they would no longer support Trump's presidential campaign, and some called for his withdrawal from the ticket. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that he would no longer defend or support Trump's campaign, although he did not officially retract his endorsement of Trump.
Bush was fired from his position as a host on the Today show, another show owned by NBCUniversal and aired on the NBC television network, and several women made allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump. The release of the tape was regarded as an "October surprise", influencing public opinion in the weeks before the election.[5][6] According to a 2020 study, it reduced public support for Trump.[7] On Saturday October 8th, Trump released an apology video, calling the remarks "locker room banter" and apologized, stating that "I've said and done things I regret".[8] Despite the controversy, Trump ultimately won the 2016 election.
Trump was shown the tape during an October 2022 deposition for a civil lawsuit brought by author E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in 1995 or 1996. In response to questions from Carroll's attorney about whether the statements in the tape were true, Trump replied, "historically, that's true with stars" and "if you look over the last million years, I guess that's been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately, or fortunately."[9] The tape was used as evidence during the trial.[10] On May 9, 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll and ordered him to pay her $5 million.[11] On July 19, 2023, Judge Kaplan denied Donald Trump's request for a new trial.[12]
Recording
The video was recorded in September 2005 in the NBC Studios parking lot while Trump was preparing to appear in an episode of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. Access Hollywood,[13] a syndicated entertainment news program owned by NBCUniversal,[14] conducted a behind-the-scenes interview with Trump about the guest appearance in which Trump and Bush arrived in a tour bus for the Access Across America series of segments produced in commemoration of the program's 10th season. It features audio of Trump talking with Billy Bush, then co-anchor of Access Hollywood, on a bus embellished with the show's name. Trump and Bush were wearing microphones, which recorded their casual conversation. Trump was later described as "apparently aware at the time that he was being recorded by a TV program".[15]
According to an Access Hollywood spokesperson, there were seven other people on the bus: a camera crew of two, the bus driver, the show's producer, a production assistant, Trump's security guard, and Trump's public relations representative. Upon arriving at the lot, the camera crew was let off the bus so they could record Trump and Bush disembarking and meeting with Arianne Zucker, who portrayed Nicole Walker on the soap opera and appeared alongside Trump in the episode in which he guest starred.[16][17]
Contents
In the video, Trump tells Bush about a failed attempt to seduce Nancy O'Dell, who was Bush's co-host at the time (circa 2005) of the recording:[18]
I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it.
I did try and fuck her. She was married.
And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, "I'll show you where they have some nice furniture." I took her out furniture—I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look.[13]
Later, referring to Arianne Zucker (whom they were waiting to meet), Trump says:
I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything.[13]
Publication
According to Access Hollywood, the discovery of the video was prompted by "Mr. Trump's denial of claims contained in an Associated Press story in which 20 former Apprentice employees described Mr. Trump's behavior toward women as lewd and inappropriate."[19] An NBC source said that an Access Hollywood producer remembered the conversation on October 3, 2016, and located it in the show's archives.[14][20] The celebrity news website TMZ reports a different chronology: when senior executives at NBC learned about the video, they thought it was too early in the presidential campaign season to release it with maximum effect, and (according to TMZ) those executives publicly said they learned of the video long after they actually learned about it.[21][22]
NBC discussed whether to release the tape and had lawyers review the legality of the publication, as is common among other news media due to the possibility that the involved parties might file a lawsuit if the video was released.[15] By October 4, NBC had drafted a story that it declined to broadcast for another three days.[15][23] On October 7, at around 11 a.m., an unidentified source gave a copy of the tape to Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold, who contacted NBC for comment, notified the Trump campaign that he had the video, obtained confirmation of its authenticity, and released a story and the tape itself by 4 p.m.[13][14] Alerted that the Post might release the story immediately,[14] NBC News released its own story "mere minutes" after the Post story was published.[16]
By that evening, the Post's story had become "the most concurrently viewed article in the history of the Post's website" with more than 100,000 people reading it on the afternoon of October 7. The Post's servers went offline for a short period that day due to the surge in web traffic.[14] This story would later be one of the articles for which Fahrenthold received the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.[24]
Reactions
Demonstrator in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. during the Women's March on Washington[25]
Reaction was swift, with Trump's general election opponent Hillary Clinton among the first political figures to respond to the tape, tweeting shortly after its release, "This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president."[26] Clinton's VP running mate Tim Kaine said of the tape, "It makes me sick to my stomach ... I'm sad to say that I'm not surprised."[27] At the second presidential debate two days later, Clinton said of the tape, "With prior Republican nominees for president, I disagreed with them, politics, policies, principles, but I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump is different."[28]
In the second episode of season 42 of Saturday Night Live (first aired on October 8), Alec Baldwin parodied the controversy as Trump.[29][30][31] Samantha Bee, the host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, reversed the gender roles in the video and issued an "apology" for the parodied video on Twitter.[32] Singer-songwriter Carly Simon donated her 1972 song "You're So Vain" for use in an anti-Trump advertisement – the first time she has ever allowed its use for political purposes – and announced her opposition to Trump in response to the tape.[33]
Media and legal profession attention
Touching a person's genitals without consent (also known as groping) is considered sexual assault in most jurisdictions in the United States.[34][35][36][37] Many attorneys and media commentators characterized Trump's statements as describing acts of sexual assault.[13][38][39] Lisa Bloom, a sexual harassment expert and civil rights lawyer, stated: "Let's be very clear, he is talking about sexual assault. He is talking about grabbing a woman's genitals without her consent."[38] Trump and some of his supporters claimed that Trump was not saying he had committed a sexual assault or had denied that groping is sexual assault.[40][41][42] Journalist Emily Crockett says that this is further evidence of a trend to minimize sexual assaults against women.[43][2]
John Banzhaf, a George Washington University public interest law professor, stated, "if Trump suddenly and without any warning reached out and grabbed a woman's crotch or breast, it would rather clearly constitute sexual assault", as indicated in Trump's statement "I don't even wait." It has been argued, however, that despite Trump having stated "I don't even wait", his full remarks do imply consent. This is pointed out by Trump's full remarks having included the statement "and when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything."[3]
It brought further media comment on Trump's history of criticizing women for their looks, among other remarks criticized as sexist.[44][45] On October 8, CNN aired segments from multiple interviews Trump gave to The Howard Stern Show prior to his political career in which he made comments similar to those on the Access Hollywood tape.[46] In September 2004, Trump comments on his daughter Ivanka's body and, when asked, tells Stern that it is okay for him to call his daughter "a piece of ass".[46][47]
Involved parties
Billy Bush
While the controversy focused mainly on Trump, Bush also faced backlash as a result of the tape,[48] mainly due to his statement that Zucker "[is] hot as shit" and his goading her into hugging Trump after they get off the bus. Bush received online criticism and calls for his resignation from The Today Show, where he was an anchor at the time. The Washington Post stated, "Bush's public image was damaged—perhaps beyond repair."[48] There were so many negative comments on Bush's social media accounts following the tape's release that his Twitter account was taken down on the evening of October 7.[48] That evening, Bush issued an apology, saying, "Obviously I'm embarrassed and ashamed. It's no excuse, but this happened eleven years ago—I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry."[48]
The controversy led to speculation that Bush's spot on Today could be in jeopardy, both because of the backlash against him on social media and the possibility that the tape's release could create a toxic work environment between Bush and the show's mostly female production staff.[49] NBC executives confirmed on the evening of October 8 that Bush's job was safe and he would address the controversy on the October 10 episode of Today.[49] Politico noted that the audience of Today is disproportionately female so that a significant ratings drop in the wake of the controversy could still lead to Bush's dismissal.[49] On Monday, October 10, NBC reversed course and announced that Bush would be suspended from Today indefinitely pending further review;[50] as he was an anchor, his suspension was briefly addressed during that day's broadcast.[51] One day later, on October 11, multiple media sources reported that NBC was "negotiating his exit".[51][52] On October 17, NBC announced that Bush had resigned.[53]
Bush's status as a member of the Bush family (specifically, as the cousin of former president George W. Bush and the nephew of former president George H. W. Bush[51]) was also noted in the wake of the controversy. The Economist noted, "Who would have thought that Mr. Bush, a presenter of NBC's Today news show, could end up playing a more influential role in this election than his cousin Jeb, whom many Republicans had expected to win it?"[54]
People and entities mentioned by Trump
Nancy O'Dell, the married woman of whom Trump spoke, said:
Politics aside, I'm saddened that these comments still exist in our society at all. When I heard the comments yesterday, it was disappointing to hear such objectification of women. The conversation needs to change because no female, no person, should be the subject of such crass comments, whether or not cameras are rolling. Everyone deserves respect no matter the setting or gender. As a woman who has worked very hard to establish her career, and as a mom, I feel I must speak out with the hope that as a society we will always strive to be better.[18]
In response to having their product referenced by Trump on the tape, Tic Tac issued a statement on Twitter stating, "Tic Tac respects all women. We find the recent statements and behavior completely inappropriate and unacceptable."[55]
Reacting to her unwitting role in this incident, Zucker wrote on TwitLonger, "How we treat one another, whether behind closed doors, locker rooms or face to face, should be done with kindness, dignity and respect."[56][57]
Melania Trump
Trump and his wife Melania
The tape had been recorded shortly after Trump's marriage to his third wife, Melania, while she was pregnant with their son Barron.[58]:;2; According to Chris Christie, Trump dreaded his next encounter with his wife after the tape leaked. It took him two hours from hearing the tape before he went to see her.[58]:;2–3; The campaign was most concerned about her response, as it more than any other had the potential to derail Trump's candidacy.[58]:;3; When they spoke about the tape privately, she reportedly said "now you could lose, you could have blown this for us" and then left the room after hearing her husband's apology.[58]:;3–4;
Melania was frustrated by the pity directed toward her. She wished to make her own response independently from the campaign's planned response. When the campaign's strategy was proposed, she only replied "no".[58]:;4; Melania decided to put out her own statement, and Donald only asked to read it before she spoke to the press.[58]:;4–5; Her statement read:
The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.[58]:;5;
Melania's first media appearance after the tape leaked was an interview with Anderson Cooper, who expressed sympathy for her throughout the interview. She stated that she would not relay what she and her husband said in private conversations, but that she was "very strong" and "very confident".[58]:;8; In the interview, Melania argued that her husband supports women, and she blamed the controversy on a conspiracy by "left-wing media".[58]:;9; She asked people not to feel sorry for her, directing criticism toward celebrities who spoke out on her behalf, which she found hypocritical.[58]:;8–9; During the next presidential debate, Melania attended wearing a pussy bow, causing speculation that it was a reference to the tape.[58]:;7;
Republican Party
The incident was condemned by numerous prominent Republicans. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said, "No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever." The RNC suspended all support of Trump's campaign shortly thereafter.[59][60] Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, tweeted, "Hitting on married women? Condoning assault? Such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America's face to the world." Ohio governor John Kasich, a former primary rival to Trump, called the remarks "indefensible"; former Florida governor Jeb Bush, also a former primary rival, called them "reprehensible".[61] Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also denounced the video, but continued to support Trump.[62] Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, disinvited Trump from a scheduled campaign rally,[63] announced that he would no longer defend or support Trump's presidential campaign, and in a highly unusual move freed down-ticket congressional members to use their own judgment, saying "you all need to do what's best for you and your district"; he did not, however, withdraw his endorsement of Trump.[62][64]
Many members of the Republican Party rescinded their endorsements as a result of the release of the video,[65][66] including Governors Bill Haslam[67] and Robert J. Bentley;[68] Representatives Bradley Byrne,[66] Jason Chaffetz,[69] and Joe Heck;[70] and Senators Kelly Ayotte,[71] Mike Crapo,[72] and John McCain.[73] Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had previously kept his opinion private throughout the campaign, released a statement: "For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for president ... As proud as I am to label myself a Republican, there is one label that I hold above all else—American."[74] By October 11, "nearly a third" of Senate Republicans said they would not vote for Trump.[75] Other Republicans expressed continued support for Trump,[76] including former 2016 Republican candidate Ben Carson,[77] evangelical leaders Tony Perkins and Ralph E. Reed Jr.,[78] and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.[78] Other evangelical leaders, particularly the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Policy Director, Dr. Russell D. Moore, publicly rebuked evangelical leaders who still supported Trump.[79] In a tweet, Ted Cruz questioned why NBC, who had possession of the tape, sat on it for 11 years.[80]
Calls to drop campaign
By October 8, several dozen Republicans had called for Trump to withdraw from the campaign and let his VP running mate, Mike Pence, take over the Republican ticket.[81][82][83] Among those favoring a Pence takeover were former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and U.S. Representatives Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Bradley Byrne of Alabama, Rodney Davis of Illinois, and Ann Wagner of Missouri.[83][65]
Pence himself released a statement on October 8, saying, "As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year-old video released yesterday ... I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them." However, he said he still supported Trump since he "has expressed remorse and apologized to the American people."[76][84][85]
Trump insisted he would never drop out.[86] As of October 8, depending upon the state:
It was not possible to change the names on ballots at the late date for purely legal reasons.[87]
Many general election ballots had already been printed, and it would be expensive to change them.[87]
In states with early voting, thousands of ballots had already been cast.[87]
For these reasons, commentators said that it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to replace Trump as the Republican nominee.[87][88]
Withdrawal of political support
As the day wore on, a growing number of Republicans went beyond criticizing Trump's remarks or rescinding endorsements of him and began calling for Trump to drop out of the presidential race, ceding the Republican nomination to another person.[82][83] On the afternoon of October 8, Trump responded with a tweet: "The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN! #MAGA".[89]
The Republican National Committee continued to support Trump,[90] and within the next couple of days, several of the Republicans who wanted Trump to drop out said that they were still voting for him.[91] Steve Bannon said in an interview on 60 Minutes that response to the controversy served as a "litmus test" for Trump's Republican allies. For example, according to Bannon, Chris Christie was denied a Cabinet position because he said Trump's comments were "completely indefensible".[92]
Trump's responses
External videos
video icon Donald Trump apologizes for sexist comments about groping women on YouTube
via PBS Newshour, October 7, 2016
Trump acknowledged making the remarks, but tried to deflect by saying that Bill and Hillary Clinton had said and done worse.
After the release of the Access Hollywood video, Trump's first public response came in the form of a written statement published on his campaign website:
This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course - not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.[93]
Early on Saturday morning, October 8, Donald Trump issued a lengthier statement, released by video. In it, Trump said of the video's contents, "I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize." He went on to "pledge to be a better man" and ended the video with the allegation that Bill Clinton had "abused women", and that Hillary Clinton had bullied her husband's victims.[94] Trump's video ended with assurances that the Clinton allegations would be discussed in coming days.[95] Trump's statement was criticized severely by the media and members of the public as insincere, and an attempt to divert attention away from Trump's comments and onto whataboutist accusations against his political opponents.[95][96][97] Trump tweeted the next day: "Certainly has been an interesting 24 hours!"[98][99] On October 10, Trump was also questioned about the tape during the second presidential debate of his campaign. He reiterated that it was "locker room talk", then said, "I'm not proud of it. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people."[100]
In 2017, it was reported that Trump had questioned the authenticity of the tape in multiple private conversations that year, including one with a Republican senator, even though he had already acknowledged that the voice was his, and apologized, after the tape was revealed.[101][102]
In January 2017, shortly before his inauguration, Trump told a Republican senator that he wanted to investigate the recording.[103][104]
Effects and aftermath
Clinton–Trump debates
The release of the tape led to a renewed anticipation towards the October 9 debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton, as it would be the first time for each candidate to directly address the controversy. Less than two hours before the debate began, Trump held a surprise press conference in St. Louis with Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick, who have previously accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, and Kathy Shelton, a rape victim whose rapist had been represented in the 1970s by Hillary, an appointed public defender. Describing the conference as his "debate prep", Trump described the women as "courageous" and "victims of the Clintons", with each of the women repeating their grievances with the Clintons.[105] At the conference, Trump refused to answer journalists' questions about the Access Hollywood tape.[105] Clinton's campaign dismissed the conference as "an act of desperation" and denounced Trump's "destructive race to the bottom".[105] First Lady Michelle Obama said referring to the controversy, "It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted."[106]
The New York Times reported that just before the press conference, advisers to the Trump campaign told Reince Priebus that Trump had to leave to attend a "meet and greet" because they feared that "Priebus would object if he knew the truth". Campaign chairman Steve Bannon told Trump, "[Broaddrick, Jones, Shelton, and Willey are] going to rub up on you and be crying... [a]nd you're going to be empathetic." In response, Bannon recalled, Trump closed his eyes, moved his head back "like a Roman emperor", and said "I love it". Juanita Broaddrick told the Times she had "no idea what we were going in there for... [b]ut that doesn't matter. I would do it all again."[107]
During the debate itself, co-moderator Anderson Cooper pressed Trump about whether the conversation on the tape meant that Trump had committed sexual assault. Trump said it "was locker room talk" and "I'm not proud of it", and said he wanted to move on to other things, but finally responded "I have not."[39] It was later revealed that Trump had arranged for the women from his press conference to sit in his family box and that they were to walk into the audience at the same time as Bill Clinton and confront him on live TV, but debate officials intervened and prevented the planned stunt from happening.[108] The Associated Press later reported that Willey and Shelton had previously been financially compensated by Trump ally Roger Stone during the campaign.[109]
Assault stories
Shortly after the story first broke on October 7, Canadian writer Kelly Oxford posted on Twitter, "Women: tweet me your first assaults. they aren't just stats."[110] Within hours, the tweet had gone viral, receiving thousands of responses, many of them relating to stories of sexual assaults on women. Over 30 million people viewed or replied to Oxford's tweet within a week.[110]
Response of athletes and coaches
News report of voter reactions by Voice of America
Numerous professional athletes and coaches rejected Trump's claim that what he said on the tape was "locker room talk", saying that such comments were not normal or acceptable.[111][112][113] Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said, "[If Trump's comments are locker room talk] that's a new locker room for me."[114] Oakland Athletics pitcher Sean Doolittle tweeted, "As an athlete, I've been in locker rooms my entire adult life and uh, that's not locker room talk."[111][114] Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Chris Conley tweeted, "Just for reference. I work in a locker room (every day) ... that is not locker room talk. Just so you know".[111][114] Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson tweeted, "What kind of fucked up locker rooms has Donald Trump been in".[114] NBA point guard Kendall Marshall tweeted, "PSA: sexual advances without consent is NOT locker room talk."[111][114][115] LA Galaxy midfielder Robbie Rogers tweeted, "I'm offended as an athlete that @realDonaldTrump keeps using this "locker room talk" as an excuse."[115] Olympic hurdler and sprinter Queen Harrison tweeted, "Locker room talk,' 'Boys will be boys,' 'Harmless banter.' These are not valid excuses for behavior. Never have been, never will be."[115] Atlanta Falcons tight end Jacob Tamme tweeted, "It's not normal. And even if it were normal, it's not right."[111][115] These responses also prompted the creation of the hashtag #NotInMyLockerRoom.[111]
Eleven months after the footage was leaked, retired professional boxer Floyd Mayweather defended Trump's comments stating, "People don't like the truth ... He speak like a real man spoke. ... So he talking locker room talk. Locker room talk. 'I'm the man, you know what I'm saying? You know who I am. Yeah, I grabbed her by the pussy. And?'"[116][117]
Anti-Trump memes and campaigns
Protester sign "Grab 'em by the combover" (reference to Trump's comb over hairstyle), Washington DC, 2017
The backlash from the comments prompted a "Pussy Grabs Back" hashtag urging women to vote against Trump on Election Day. Anti-Trump memes featuring cat imagery spread on social media. The Guardian wrote that an image of a snarling cat became a "rallying cry for female rage against Trump".[118][119][120]
Trump's denial that he ever kissed or groped women without consent led to more accusations by several women that Trump sexually assaulted them.[121][122] Trump's campaign denied the allegations.[123]
In response to the recording, Shannon Coulter started a viral campaign called #GrabYourWallet, which urges individuals to boycott various companies that sell Trump-related products.[124] Various companies have since dropped Trump's products in response to the boycott, including Shoes.com, Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus.[125]
Alleged other tapes
On October 9, former staffers of Trump's reality show The Apprentice and journalist Geraldo Rivera said that they both individually have more damaging tapes of Trump, but did not say if they would be released to the public.[126][127] Rivera later stated that he had searched his files and that he could not find anything relevant to the scandal.[128]
Since the tape's release, Bill Pruitt, a producer of the first two seasons of the television series The Apprentice, claims there is behind-the-scenes footage of Trump saying things that are "far worse". NBCUniversal's news division does not have access to the archives of the series. Another Apprentice producer, Chris Nee, claimed on Twitter that Trump said "the N-word" in the archived footage.[129][130] Nee later deleted the tweet.[131][132] A GoFundMe campaign was launched on October 9 with the goal of raising $5.1 million to release more tapes. The campaign is known as the "Trump Sunlight Campaign". Nee wrote on Twitter to Mark Cuban that there is a $5 million penalty fee if the footage is leaked.[130][133] David Brock also offered to pay the penalty to release the alleged tapes from The Apprentice.[134][135] By election day, the "Sunlight campaign" had raised $40,000. No tape was found as a result of the campaign. In December 2017, the organizer Aaron Holman posted an update stating that he would donate $25,000 of the fundraised amount to The Nation Institute, with the remaining used to reimburse expenses of "investigative work" done by the campaign.[136]
E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit
Main article: E. Jean Carroll vs. Donald J. Trump
In Trump's late 2022 deposition for E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against him (related to her accusation that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s and his response while U.S. president), Trump was questioned about whether he made the statements in the tape, to which he replied, "Well, historically, that's true with stars." Carroll's lawyers cited the statements as corroborating a larger pattern of sexual abuse by Trump, and his lawyers requested that the tape be disregarded as evidence in the trial.[137][138] The jurors viewed the tape during trial and went on to find Trump liable for battery and defamation against Carroll.[139]
After the jury in the case awarded Carroll $5 million, finding Trump liable for sexual abuse, Trump requested a new trial. In declining this request,[140] Kaplan cited, among other things, the Access Hollywood tape in his decision, saying, "Mr. Trump's own words from the Access Hollywood tape and from his deposition – that (a) stars '[u]nfortunately or fortunately' 'c[ould] do anything' they wished to do to women, including 'grab[bing] them by the pussy' and (b) he considers himself to be a 'star' – could have been regarded by the jury as a sort of personal confession as to his behavior."[141]
See also
2017 Women's March
Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal
Protests against Donald Trump
Tiny Hands
MeToo movement
October surprise
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External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape.
Taub, Amanda (October 10, 2016). "Special Tax on Women: Trump Tape Is a Reminder of the Cost of Harassment". The New York Times. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
"Transcript: Donald Trump's Taped Comments About Women". The New York Times. October 8, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
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Deep throat Deep state
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Свидетельство о публикации №125071707163
Свидетельство о публикации №125071707163
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