Trump Ally Nicole Shanahan Appears To Promote Weird QAnon Theory

Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appeared to promote a conspiracy theory about government-led child abuse Thursday during an event featuring GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Shanahan, who has endorsed the prospect of what she’s called a Trump-Kennedy “coalition government,” criticized first lady Jill Biden for dressing up as a panda bear for Halloween the previous day.

“The parading of Jill Biden in a panda suit yesterday — right in front of our eyes,” Shanahan said in her speech at the “Tucker Carlson Live” event, prompting some boos throughout the venue. “What the hell is this mockery? No more!”

Viewers not steeped in conspiracy theories might have wondered what the fuss was about. But as Will Sommer, a Washington Post reporter who wrote a book on QAnon, explained on X (formerly Twitter), “panda eyes” refers to “the puffy eyes received by children abused in Satanic rituals by the cabal.”

Shanahan was “alluding to some QAnon beliefs here,” Sommer wrote. Neither Trump’s campaign nor Shanahan immediately returned a request for comment about the remarks. 

In reality, the first lady’s costume was a nod to the return of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. She helped the zoo hype the bears’ arrival in an October video. The White House said Thursday that Biden wore the Halloween costume as a “welcoming gesture” for the pandas, The Associated Press reported. 

QAnon is the years-old conspiracy theory universe that asserts that liberal elites in politics and media are secretly running a massive, satanic child abuse ring. The movement venerates Trump, believing he’ll stage mass arrests and potential executions of his political enemies as part of an effort to abolish the so-called “deep state” and seize control of government. 

Though QAnon originated with the anonymous posts of a supposed government insider on an online message board, it has since grown diffuse, expressed through hysteria over transgender people and other right-wing culture war topics. 

Shanahan’s remarks were shared approvingly by some QAnon adherents on X, which is owned by Trump surrogate Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. 

Liz Crokin, an adherent of another conspiracy theory dubbed “Pizzagate” who has more than 400,000 followers, reposted the video and cheered Shanahan’s speech, calling the panda suit a “well known pedophile symbol.” Crokin had posted earlier accusing the Bidens of hosting a “Pedophile-Themed Halloween Party For Children.”

Shanahan didn’t elaborate on her beliefs about Jill Biden’s costume, but elsewhere in her remarks, she referred to the election as “deeply spiritual” and called on the audience to be “individual sovereigns” rather than “puppets of corporate interests.” 

She intoned ominously about being in “the belly of the beast” and meeting “all those celebrities you see doing those endorsements.” The good people of the country, she said, are “more populous than the tiny segment of the population that has been responsible for so much of our pain.” 

Shanahan is the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and their 2023 divorce settlement reportedly left her with more than $1 billion. As Kennedy’s running mate, she donated millions to help his campaign. 

Kennedy and Shanahan ended their bid for the White House in August, with Kennedy endorsing Trump. Shanahan has since fashioned herself into a pro-Trump wellness guru. 

Kennedy, the nation’s most prominent anti-vaccine advocate, said recently that Trump has promised him “control” of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. Trump said at his Madison Square Garden rally this week that he would let Kennedy “go wild on the medicines.” 

Shanahan has spoken on TV and podcasts in support of Trump’s candidacy, and funded pro-Trump videos, including one criticizing Democrats for having “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” 

She said during the Carlson event that she was about to become “a first-time Trump voter,” eliciting raucous cheers as she filled out what she said was her actual ballot.

Shanahan was not the headliner at Carlson’s event, which was held in Glendale, Arizona. That was Trump, who made news by airing a fantasy of prominent Trump critic and former Congresswoman Liz Cheney having guns “trained on her face.” The GOP nominee called her a “radical war hawk.”

“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said.