Trump Shares QAnon Posts And Other Particularly Unhinged Social Media Content
Former President Donald Trump once tried to keep a healthy distance between himself and the conspiratorial elements of his supporter base, admitting only a vague familiarity with their beliefs.
A flurry of activity seen on his Truth Social page this week, however, emphasizes how far he’s come toward fully and openly embracing the far-right fringe as he faces an increasingly tight presidential race.
Trump shared several images referencing the baseless QAnon conspiracy that holds him up as a savior battling so-called “deep state” operatives involved in satanic rituals and sex trafficking.
“NOTHING CAN STOP WHAT IS COMING,” reads text overlaid on one photo illustration of Trump walking somberly between two rows of soldiers as he is flanked by lightning bolts. A pair of eyes painted with stars and stripes fills the space where the sky should be.
Another image includes the same phrase along with the QAnon slogan “where we go one, we go all,” abbreviated as “WWG1WGA!!!”
Another contains a blatantly sexist attack on Vice President Kamala Harris, who is shown in a monochrome photograph alongside former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A comment below the photo reads, “Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently…”
Trump does not appear to have created any of these images. But he liked them enough to repost them to his personal social media feed, signaling that he stands by their messages enough to use his large platform to amplify them.
The social media activity comes as Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has outshined Trump in recent polls — and appears to be gaining ground in battleground statessuch as Georgia that once seemed like relatively safe bets for him.
Still another social media graphic depicts an assortment of Trump’s political opponents — or people Trump views as his political opponents — in orange prison jumpsuits. The group includes President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Clinton, Harris, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci.
Former President Barack Obama is also in the mix, in a nod to the conspiracy theory that the nation’s first Black president has been secretly puppeteering the Biden-Harris administration.
“ALL ROADS LEAD TO OBAMA,” the image screams. “RETRUTH IF YOU WANT PUBLIC MILITARY TRIBUNALS.”
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, dodged a question on Trump’s reposting binge during an appearance on CNN.
“I don’t think your viewers are concerned about social media posts,” Leavitt told anchor John Berman, pointing instead to stories about migrants and gas prices.
Berman interjected: “Karoline — Karoline — can you answer — do you know why he reposted that content?”
But Leavitt only said she had not been able to talk with Trump because he was busy speaking to the media, pivoting then to attack Harris for not devoting more of her time to the press.
(Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have a sit-down interview with CNN’s Dana Bash set to air at 9 p.m. Eastern time Thursday. It will be the pair’s first major interview since being chosen to lead their party’s ticket.)
Facing a similar question on Trump’s antics from The Washington Post, Leavitt accused the newspaper of unfairly focusing on “a few social media posts” and “negative stories” about Trump.
But the social media posts appear to provide even further evidence that Trump is struggling to respond to the Harris-Walz ticket, which infused last week’s Democratic National Convention with a party atmosphere and fresh energy.
Certainly, showing even a shred of support for the QAnon conspiracy, whose supporters believe Democrats literally feed off the blood of children, is not going to help Trump combat one of the most effective new attacks against him. It is weird.
