Trump Won’t Disavow QAnon Conspiracy Theory
TOPLINE
When asked during a press conference whether he agrees with Georgia Republican congressional candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene’s support for the baseless, far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, President Trump dodged the question, and instead congratulated the candidate on her “tremendous victory” and ignored a follow-up question about QAnon.
Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House on August 14, … [+]
Alex Wong/Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which originated on the internet fringe in 2017, believe that Trump is engaged in a struggle to expose and take down a “deep state” network of liberal politicians, government officials and Hollywood celebrities that are running an international sex-trafficking ring (an FBI memo released last year warned that QAnon’s followers could be possible “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists”).
During a press conference at the White House on Friday, an Associated Press reporter asked the president whether he agrees with Greene, who has openly touted the theory multiple times:
Trump deflected, instead congratulating the Georgia Republican on Tuesday’s primary runoff win, saying she did “very well in the election,” and was “very popular.”
The president then refused to answer a follow-up question in which the reporter again asked whether Trump “agrees with” Greene on QAnon.
It’s the second time Trump has congratulated the candidate: in a tweet on Wednesday, Trump called Greene a “future Republican star.”
On Twitter, Trump has retweeted hundreds of posts from pro-QAnon accounts and recently retweeted two messages from Angela Stanton-King—a Republican congressional candidate vying for John Lewis’ old seat in Georgia who has repeatedly touted the conspiracy — who after tweeted in all caps: “THE STORM IS HERE,” a popular QAnon rallying cry.
What to watch for
Greene won the Republican primary in Georgia’s deeply conservative 14th Congressional District on Tuesday, which means she is all but certain to become the first member of Congress who openly supports the QAnon conspiracy.
Key background
Greene is one of 14 candidates identified verified on Twitter who has promoted QAnon with minimal restrictions, Forbes reported. In a statement to Forbes earlier this month, Twitter said it is “evaluating the expansion of this policy to include candidates and elected officials.” Greene has posted about QAnon multiple times online, and once called “Q” (an anonymous 4chan user who claimed to be a high-level government official, kick-starting the conspiracy) a “patriot” who is “worth listening to” in a video. She also claimed that “Q” was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.” In videos recently uncovered by Media Matters, a left-wing watchdog group, Greene promoted a 9/11 conspiracy theory in which she questioned whether planes actually crashed into the towers. In June, Politico uncovered a trove of videos in which Greene espoused racist and anti-Semitic views, prompting some Republican lawmakers to distance themselves from the candidate.
Tangent
Shortly after winning the primary on Tuesday, Greene was hit with a defamation lawsuit over comments she made about the shooting of Rayshard Brooks.
Further reading
Republicans called her videos ‘appalling’ and ‘disgusting.’ But they’re doing little to stop her. (Politico)
Twitter Cracked Down On QAnon—But Candidates Touting The Conspiracy Still Thrive There (Forbes)
QAnon Supporter Greene Wins Primary And Gets Push From Trump (Forbes)
Trump-Backed Candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene Promotes 9/11 Conspiracy Theory (Forbes)
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