 |
| Conspiracy theory group QAnon, whose members think that Obama is part of a group of Satanic pedophiles and cannibals, just got praised Wednesday by Donald Trump. |
Let's be clear about one fact - Trump is an incompetent, desperate character who will kiss the ass of any person or group who can get him re-elected. And we need to say it more times than we do. It needs to be hammered in. Particularly after his latest hot mess.
Trump just gave his blessing to a group of dangerous conspiracy theorists:
Speaking during a press conference at the White House, Trump courted the support of those who put stock in the conspiracy theory, saying, "I heard that these are people that love our country." It was his first public comment on the subject.
A lot of people aren't familiar with QAnon, but to put it nicely, they are a bunch of nuts:
The QAnon conspiracy theory baselessly claims that there is a "deep state" apparatus run by political elites, business leaders and Hollywood celebrities who are also pedophiles and actively working against Trump. View described it as meta conspiracy theory that provides an underlying narrative for other baseless theories. According to View, its followers believe that this "worldwide cabal of satanic pedophiles" run "all the major levers of power," including government, media, business and Hollywood.
QAnon theorists believe that were it not for Trump's election in 2016, the cabal would stay in power, View says. But Trump, working with the military, is actively putting an end to it, according to the theory. An anonymous poster named Q shares cryptic tips that followers then decode to learn the ways in which the "deep state" controls the world, how Trump is battling and marching orders to join in, said Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters for America, a nonprofit that researches misinformation in the United States.
QAnon members haver accused celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Hanks or government officials such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama of being pedophiles. They also think that children are being harvested for chemical compounds and that JFK is still alive.
And yes,they are dangerous:
A Yahoo News report from August 2019 says that the FBI identified fringe conspiracy theories as a domestic extremist threat, and it specifically mentions QAnon. The majority of QAnon supporters say they are peaceful and most of their activities remain online, View said. "The danger is essentially that there have been multiple instances where QAnon followers have taken their beliefs offline in violent or dangerous ways," he added. View cited multiple cases of violence connected to QAnon believers. In June 2018, Matthew Wright, motivated by his belief in QAnon, blocked the bridge near the Hoover Dam with a homemade armored vehicle. He later pleaded guilty to making a terrorist threat.
Last year the FBI declared the group as a domestic terrorist threat. But guess what? One of these conspiracy theorists is going to Congress next year.
