Last updated on August 23, 2020
“The circus of it all, the meanness, the lies, the conspiracy theories…”
Apparently GW Bush isn’t appearing at the GOP RNC event next week, so Jeb! decided to draw a line at least in terms of what might be left for the GOP.
How do terror organizations succeed? Some of it has to do with a recruit, his isolation. But to thrive, a terror organization has to convince recruits it is winning, that their ideology is on a path to victory. To grow, they need validation, a legitimizing of their agenda. #QAnon https://t.co/51XxoECMCm
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) August 20, 2020
Trump's press conference consisted of him minimizing the COVID-19 deaths in US hinting at the cost benefit of it effecting primarily elderly, encouraging the boycott of Goodyear Tires, bragging about spending 2.5 trillion on the military & suggesting Dems & China are colluding. pic.twitter.com/DFD31VuGGF
— Michelle Valdez (@Michell06017336) August 20, 2020
Why it matters: QAnon is a sprawling internet conspiracy theory that baselessly alleges that a powerful cabal of sex traffickers within the “deep state” is engaged in a global fight to take down Trump. The FBI identified fringe conspiracy theories, like QAnon, as domestic terrorist threats in 2019.
- Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal supporter of QAnon, won the Republican nomination in Georgia’s deep-red 14th Congressional District runoff last week. Trump tweeted his congratulations and called her a “future Republican Star.”
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is one of the few Republicans who have demanded that GOP leaders condemn QAnon now that it has entered the mainstream, with Greene poised to be elected to Congress in November.
What he’s saying: “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,” Trump said.
NEW: Trump at a press conference claimed that he doesn't know much about the fringe conspiracy theory QAnon, but that he understands its supporters "like me very much" and that they "love America." https://t.co/21TCuGr1Y0
— Axios (@axios) August 19, 2020
Jeb Bush criticized Trump for praising QAnon believers during a White House press conference today, tweeting that Trump should have told them that they "have no place in either party."https://t.co/5LXlTr7Vle
— Axios (@axios) August 20, 2020
There is a sect of QAnon that believes that JFK Jr. is still alive & Donald Trump helped him fake his death. They are actively rooting for Trump to drop Pence and add JFK Jr. to the ticket. https://t.co/c2mbyHuB8w pic.twitter.com/YJo4LSpBWk
— Jamie McCarty (@JamieMcCarty) August 19, 2020
“Who is this person? She’s not the same mother I used to have, and probably never will be again.” From @1843mag https://t.co/KifcIXGuZN
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) August 20, 2020
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