For the Second Time, Trump Praises Antisemitic QAnon Conspiracy Theory

In August of 2020, Donald Trump praised believers of the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory as “people who love our country.” Two months later, during an NBC Town Hall, he went further, stating that QAnon is “very strongly against pedophilia, and I agree with that.”

QAnon is an antisemitic conspiracy theory, one that amounts to a modern-day version of blood libel. It originated on the right-wing extremist message board 4chan when an anonymous poster named “Q” claimed to have insider knowledge of high-level government plans. The conspiracy’s basic premise is that Trump is secretly executing an ingenious plan to take down the “deep state” by ridding the government and media of his enemies, who, according to QAnon believers, are pedophiles trafficking children for sex and for their blood, George Soros, elites in Hollywood, and a similarly vague cast of characters. The FBI declared QAnon a potential domestic terror threat in 2019.

Trump refused to denounce the conspiracy theory. Although repeatedly asked to, he would not agree with the statement that the Democrat-run satanic sex cult QAnon claims to fight does not exist.

Once fringe, QAnon has quickly become part of the Republican Party’s mainstream, with 20 QAnon-believing Republican candidates winning their primaries and running for Congress in the 2020 general election.