QAnon Is Back...But It Never Really Left

The insanity continues

As the GOP’s vice presidential contender J.D. Vance diverts attention with ridiculous statements about childless women, a far more serious problem is lurking beneath the surface of the current election campaign: Tens of millions of people still follow the dangerous conspiracy theories of the online “Q-Anon” movement and the GOP’s presidential nominee Donald Trump has signaled his support for their beliefs.

Originating as an anonymous online message board created by a fictitious former “Q-Clearance” intelligence officer, Q-Anon’s main premise is that the country, and much of the world, is run by an elite, child-molesting and cannibalistic (I’m not kidding) cabal that is determined to deny Trump power. Countless lesser conspiracies are alleged under the “Q” banner and while few followers subscribe to them all, they generally regard the world with deep suspicion and believe Trump will redeem the world.

With Trumpism a key element of the movement, Q-Anon is a powerful part of his base, which explains why he recently reposted a social media meme showing himself and his wife Melania in the White House with the letter “Q” superimposed over them. He also reposted a message that said the co-chair of the Congressional committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol “is guilty of TREASON” and should be tried, along with others, in “televised military tribunals” 

Trump was talking directly about former member of Congress Liz Cheney and indirectly about everyone who served on the January 6 committee, including me. If you watched the TV coverage of the pro-Trump mob’s violent takeover of the Capitol you no doubt saw that some of the marauders wore Q-Anon T-shirts, carried placards bearing the letter “Q” and displayed the letters WWG1WGA, which stands for the Q-Anon motto, “Where We Go One We Go All.” I would say that a substantial number of the Capitol rioters followed “Q” and were inspired by its claims.

With his call-out to QAnon, Trump helped re-energized a movement that has brought millions into what amounts to a political cult that has inspired violence and divided families across America. This problem is gaining media attention lately, as The New York Times and others have published articles about a new book called The Quiet Damage: Q-Anon and the Destruction of the American Family by Jesselyn Cook.

Cook spent years documenting how families have been torn apart when one of more members joined the Q movement and others reacted with a kind of horror as seemingly normal men and women became urgently obsessed. Embedded with five families, Cook documented how, like all cult members, QAnon adherents fervently resist efforts to talk them out of their beliefs.  In some cases, family members became completely estranged. “The truth is that the truth is almost beside the point,” Cook writes. She says that “harboring grievances — whether they stem from real or perceived offenses — actually makes people feel good.”

Other conspiracy theory elements of Trumpworld seem to have adopted the Q style. For example, as soon as candidate Trump narrowly escaped assassination at a campaign rally, online conspiracy theorists began to speculate that either Democrats or government agents were behind the attempt on his life. Within days Republican lawmakers were suggesting that officials of some sort had played a role in the shooting. This idea has been echoed by the former president’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr. Both said that high-level Democrats could have been involved.

Fearmongers inside and outside of QAnon will find more issues and events to spin in the weeks to come. The ultimate impact is impossible to predict, but I am certain that this digital cult will energize a certain segment of the electorate. Worse, QAnon threatens to become a more-or-less permanent fixture, as the children of the believers absorb their fears.

Just what we need.