Donald Trump Dodges Question Of Whether He Supports QAnon Conspiracy Theory
Donald Trump refused to answer a series questions on Friday about whether he supports the QAnon conspiracy theory, which has garnered a significant following that started on the fringes of the internet but has begun to gain a foothold within some members of the Republican Party.
As the Associated Press reported, Trump was asked during a press briefing on Friday about whether he supports QAnon, which comes from a person or group of people claiming to have inside access to Trump. The conspiracy theory claims that the president has been secretly fighting against what supporters have referred to as the Deep State, with claims that a number of top Democrats are involved in rings of child abuse. Many of these predictions — including an early one that Hillary Clinton was under arrest, or facing imminent arrest — have been proven wrong. The predictions have also taken aim at some of the president’s other perceived enemies, including the late Arizona Senator John McCain.
The president this week had praised Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who won a primary runoff in a House race. She has been a vocal proponent of the movement, calling the source known as Q a “patriot” and publicly sharing some of the more extremist theories.
Trump reiterated his support for her in Friday’s press briefing, saying that he supported Greene but refusing to answer a series of questions about whether he supports the movement himself.
The report noted the movement — which began in 2017 on the far-right fringes of the internet — has been steadily gaining more mainstream support. Trump and his adult sons have retweeted accounts that support QAnon, leading Politico to question whether he was intentionally giving a nod to this especially fervent group of supporters. The report also pointed out that on the Fourth of July, Trump shared a total of 14 tweets from accounts supporting the idea.
“It wasn’t the first time Trump has nodded — accidentally or not — to QAnon followers on Twitter,” the report added. “But Trump’s QAnon-baiting has gone into overdrive in recent months. According to a Media Matters analysis, ever since the pandemic began, Trump has retweeted at least 90 posts from 49 pro-QAnon accounts, often multiple times in the same day.”
As The Inquisitr noted, some Republicans have raised alarm that the group may already have too much political power, noting that Greene appears to be on the way to bring her beliefs to the House of Representatives.
