Podcast: Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny explain QAnon

Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny are NBC News reporters focusing on mis- and disinformation in health and politics. Here, they speak with Lawfare’s Quinta Jurecic and Evelyn Douek about QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory built around anonymous internet posts heralding Donald Trump as the righteous leader of a struggle against a cabal of “deep state” elites running an extensive child sex trafficking operation. They discussed how social media platforms have allowed QAnon to spread and how its ability to plug into other conspiracy theories, permeate the mainstream, and incite offline violence have made it particularly pernicious.