There were 14 retweets on July 4th. And those around Trump are even more explicit. It’s giving a boost to the sprawling, Trump-centric conspiracy movement.
On July Fourth, before President Donald Trump spoke to the nation from the White House lawn, he spoke indirectly to another community on Twitter: QAnon.
That afternoon, he retweeted 14 tweets from accounts supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory, a sprawling and ever-mutating belief that a mysterious government official who goes by “Q” is leaving online clues about a messianic Trump’s secret plan to dismantle a cadre of Washington elites engaged in everything from pedophilia to child sex trafficking.
It wasn’t the first time Trump has nodded — accidentally or not — to QAnon followers on Twitter. 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.
Those around Trump have followed suit. Eric Trump, the president’s son, recently posted a giant “Q” on Instagram as well as the hashtag version of the community’s slogan: “Where we go one, we go all.” White House deputy communications director Dan Scavino sparked glee on Facebook when he posted a photo with Q symbology in it back in March. Over on Parler, the niche Twitter alternative and MAGA hub, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, one of Trump’s most strident congressional defenders, directed people to The Dirty Truth, a video producer who has promoted QAnon-related conspiracies in the past.
And over that July Fourth weekend, Michael Flynn, Trump’s first national security adviser, recorded a video of himself taking the QAnon loyalty pledge, a slightly altered version of the U.S. oath of office.
All this has occurred with barely any pushback from Trump or Republican leaders — or even much acknowledgment that the phenomenon exists. And the engagement has continued even as the FBI has labeled the amorphous online community a potential source of domestic terrorism after several people radicalized by QAnon have been charged with crimes, ranging from attempted kidnapping to murder, inspired by the conspiracy theory.
To Trump’s critics, the reason is simple enough: QAnon followers are some of Trump’s biggest boosters. They show up at rallies. They promote the president’s narrative online, even coming up with their own conspiracy theories to protect him. And as the president struggles in the polls amid criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and response to nationwide protests over police killings, there are political benefits to engaging Trump’s most fervent fan base.
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Over the destabilizing crises of the past several months — Covid-19, mass protests over racial injustice and a divisive conversation over removing symbols honoring Confederate leaders — QAnon’s influence in Washington has tracked upward. At least two GOP congressional candidates with histories of promoting QAnon-related claims on social media are likely headed for a seat in Congress.
Notably, the Republican Party has not addressed those claims. Lauren Boebert, a restaurateur who won an upset victory over a five-term GOP incumbent in Colorado’s 3rd District, garnered the National Republican Congressional Committee’s endorsement, despite previously saying that she had “hope” that QAnon was “real”. She has declined to disavow that statement.
And when several House Republicans withdrew their endorsements of QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene, who beat her nearest primary opponent in Georgia’s heavily Republican 14th congressional race by over 20 points and is headed towards a runoff, they cited her racist attacks on Muslims and Black activists, as well as her anti-Semitic remarks — but not her belief that QAnon is a real person. Other Trump defenders in the House GOP caucus, like Jim Jordan of Ohio and Andy Biggs of Arizona, did not pull their endorsements after her racist comments surfaced.
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But ultimately, the only person who needs to stoke the QAnon community, other than whoever is controlling the Q account, is Trump himself.
“If Trump feels like these people support him 100 percent, he’s gonna protect them and that’s it,” Wilson said.
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QAnon is the conspiracy theory that a government official who goes by “Q” is leaving clues about Trump’s plan to dismantle Washington elites engaged in everything from pedophilia to child sex trafficking. And it's believers unequivocally support Trump. https://t.co/2Rir6MXiU7
— POLITICO (@politico) July 12, 2020
Gym Jordan is an embarrassment to Ohio, America, Earth, the Solar System, the Galaxy, and the known universe. https://t.co/ie9JDIiRNP
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 12, 2020
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