During Wednesday’s press briefing, President Trump was asked about his opinion of far-Right conspiracy theory group QAnon. His answers to the two questions have been taken — by both QAnon supporters and the mainstream media — as a tacit endorsement of both QAnon and its many wild claims. But even a cursory look at his answers does not support that conclusion.
Within hours of the press briefing, NPR reported, “Trump, Addressing Far-Right QAnon Conspiracy, Offers Praise For Its Followers.” NBC News reported, “Trump’s QAnon embrace draws GOP backlash.” And New York City ABC affiliate abc7NY reported, “Trump praises QAnon conspiracists, suggests he appreciates support.“ Other media reported similarly, as if they were all working from the same playbook.
And Q supporters jubilantly took to social media with myriad posts claiming that Trump had just placed his imprimatur on both QAnon and its far-flung theories. One Twitter user who goes by the handle Robert Young tweeted, “You are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. His answer is priceless! #QAnon #WWG1WGA #MAGA.” #WWG!WGA is an abbreviation of Where we go one, we go all” and is a buzz-phrase used by Q followers. A user under the handle Sokrates tweeted, “He basically confirmed the movement. We, together with the US military, are the saviors of mankind. What an incredible time to be alive.” And ltw0312 tweeted, “We already know. Eventually the world will know. He’s already verified, he doesn’t have to say it outright. #WWG1WGA”
So, in an odd twist of the story line, the liberal mainstream media and QAnon supporters agree on one thing: President Donald Trump supports QAnon. But is that so? Here — in toto — is the relevant portion from the transcript of the press briefing:
Q: During the pandemic, the QAnon movement has been — appears to be gaining a lot of followers. Can you talk about what you think about that and what you have to say to people who are following this movement right now?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate, but I don’t know much about the movement. I have heard that it is gaining in popularity. And from what I hear, it’s — these are people that, when they watch the streets of Portland, when they watch what happened in New York City in just the last six or seven months — but this was starting even four years ago when I came here. Almost four years; can you believe it?
These are people that don’t like seeing what’s going on in places like Portland and places like Chicago and New York and other cities and states. And I’ve heard these are people that love our country, and they just don’t like seeing it.
So I don’t know, really, anything about it other than they do, supposedly, like me. And they also would like to see problems in these areas — like, especially the areas that we’re talking about — go away. Because there’s no reason the Democrats can’t run a city. And if they can’t, we will send in all of the federal — whether it’s troops or law enforcement, whatever they’d like — we’ll send them in. We’ll straighten out their problem in 24 hours or less.
Okay?
Q: And, Mr. President, at the crux of the theory is this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals. Does that sound like something you are behind or a believer in?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I haven’t — I haven’t heard that. But is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? I mean, you know, if I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to put myself out there.
And we are, actually. We’re saving the world from a radical-left philosophy that will destroy this country. And when this country is gone, the rest of the world would follow. The rest of the world would follow. That’s the importance of this country.
And when you look at some of the things that these people are saying, with “Defund the Police” and no borders, open borders — everybody just pour right into our country; no testing, no nothing. You know, you talk about testing — no testing. Mexico, as you know, has a very high rate of infection.
The wall is now going to be, next week, 300 miles long. Our numbers are extraordinary on the border. And this is through luck, perhaps, more than talent — although the talent is getting it built when one party refuses to allow it. You don’t hear talk about the wall anymore. But I will say this: We need strength in our country, not weakness. Too much weakness.
Let’s take that apart, shall we? There are exactly four statements in the answers to those two questions that actually address QAnon at all: (1) “I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate, but I don’t know much about the movement.” (2) “I have heard that it is gaining in popularity.” (3) “These are people that don’t like seeing what’s going on in places like Portland and places like Chicago and New York and other cities and states.” And (4) “And I’ve heard these are people that love our country, and they just don’t like seeing it.”
President Trump — as per his particular speaking style — repeats and rephrases those four points, but no matter how you count them, that is it. Four.
The only minds that could possibly construe any or all of those statements as an endorsement of QAnon are those that are reading it into his words. Sadly, both the mainstream media and followers of Q have their own motives for doing just that.
Anyone who has been paying attention to President Trump’s answers to questions over the past five years (going all the way back to candidate Trump in both press conferences and debates) should recognize that this is what he does. He takes inane questions and uses them as a springboard with which to segue into a point he was already planning to make. This is a prime example of that. His main talking point right now — playing to his base of right-thinking, patriotic Americans who are tired of seeing Antifa communist thugs burn and pillage their way across America’s cities — is that enough is enough. It is time to do something about it. And he is the man to do it.
So, he used the first question to make that point.
His second main talking point dates all the way back to his campaign: “Make America Great Again.” Part of that is the securing of our borders. Another part of that is supporting the police. The Democratic Party has pushed for open borders It has also advocated for defunding or abolishing police departments. So, playing to his strong base again, President Trump used the second (and far wilder) question of whether he is “secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals” to address those issues.
He did what he does. What he does not do is endorse either QAnon or its insane theories. In fact, he clearly states that he is unaware of any theory that he is “secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals,” saying, “I haven’t heard that.” That is the farthest thing from an endorsement.
This writer addressed the myriad QAnon conspiracy theories in an article originally published in print and later published online. In that article, this writer enumerated the multiplicity of false predictions and claims made by QAnon. Perhaps only one example from that article will be sufficient to call into question the veracity of anything Q claims:
And it’s not as though Q began with fulfilled predictions before stepping up to the plate, swinging for the fence, and hitting nothing but air. Q’s failures started with the first prediction, known as Drop #1 (Q posts are called “drops” and are numbered and dated).
Drop #1 — dated October 28, 2017 at 4:44 p.m. — was not entirely a prediction of the future. It also contained elements that it claimed were present and past. That drop read, “HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton] extradition already in motion and effective yesterday with several countries in case of cross border run.” This, of course, assumed that Hillary Clinton was soon to be arrested. The drop continued, claiming that Clinton’s passport was “approved to be flagged effective 10/30 @12:01am.” The drop then stated, “Expect massive riots organized in defiance and others fleeing the US to occur. US M’s [military] will conduct the operation while NG [National Guard] activated.”
For those who doubted the veracity of the claims of Drop #1, Q offered this at the conclusion of the post: “Proof check: Locate a NG [National Guard] member and ask if activated for duty 10/30 across most major cities.” If those who read that drop at the time had taken that challenge, Q would likely have fizzled out, and there would not have been subsequent failed predictions — because there was no military operation, no activation of the National Guard, no mass riots, no Clinton accomplices fleeing the country. In fact, nothing predicted or claimed in the drop turned out to be true. Most notably, instead of Hillary Clinton being arrested on October 28, 2017 — beginning the end of the Deep State/DNC conspiracy — it turned out that two of President Trump’s former aides, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, were charged on that date and turned themselves in. A third former Trump aide (George Papadopoulos) was reported that day to have already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
The article goes on to list many more examples and should serve as a good starting place for anyone who is curious about the claims of Q — including what part President Trump plays in the fictional drama that Q spins.
This much is certain to those who are simply looking at the facts: Q is not — as claimed — someone with access to classified information involving the battle between the Trump administration and its opponents in the liberal establishment and who is working to save America by sharing the truth. And President Trump did not endorse Q in Wednesday’s briefing.
Photo: AP Images
C. Mitchell Shaw is a freelance writer and public speaker who addresses a range of topics related to liberty and the U.S. Constitution. A strong privacy advocate, he was a privacy nerd before it was cool. He hosts and produces the popular Enemy of the [Surveillance] State podcast.
