Trump, The Republicans, And The QAnon Conspiracy

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   GA Andersonposted 3 years ago

   I have probably read less and know less about the QAnon conspiracy than most folks.
   
   But . . . it is my impression that it is basically that the U.S., (the world?), is run by a cabal of Satin worshippers that drink the blood of babies, are pedophiles, and control every aspect of our government.
   
   I have seen many QAnon attributions placed at Pres. Trump's doorstep because he did not just outright disown QAnon believers. And that the Republican Party is now the party of Trump and QAnon conspiracy believers.
   
   I have some contrary thoughts on that. Not because I think I know better than others, but because I think that broad focus is misdirected. Be forewarned, I am only speaking from gut perceptions, not researched knowledge.
   
   I think the majority of QAnon believers that are Trump supporters, or Republicans, are believers in the part of QAnon relative to a cabal of elites controlling our government. I don't believe they are true believers of the Satin-worshipping baby-blood drinking pedophile aspects of the QAnon conspiracy.
   
   I also think that those latter, most ridiculous parts of the QAnon conspiracy theory are promotions of the Left. Of course, original sources for those claims can be found, but, can validation of those original sources be found in current QAnon believers? I don't think so. I think that if some survey of those conspiracy believers could be found it would reveal that their true beliefs are in the elite cabal parts of the conspiracy.
   
   Maybe I am just too naive to believe anyone could believe that pedophile baby-blood stuff. What do you think?
   
   GA

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      PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/95109564 … y-theories
      
      A group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media
      True  17%
      Don't know  37%
      Not true  47%
      
      Scary, huh?

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      1. 81

         GA Andersonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, it is scary. But it was a relief to see that only 17% believed the whole thing.
         
         Further down the article, they asked the "deep state" question that I was attributing to much of the acceptance of the QAnon thing. 39% believe there is a deep state.
         
         GA

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            PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            That not quite half know it's "not true" is what scares me. That's half the country that either believe it's true or don't know.
            
            And, what constitutes "the fringe"? To me, 17% is far more than fringe.

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               GA Andersonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               If you look at the PEW link tsmog provided you will see that 17% is of 23% of adults, not all adults. I think that does get closer to an acceptable fringe category.
               
               Also, the PEW research has some info that relates to your concern about those that don't know. (take a look at its "news source" questions and determinations),  I don't think one can honestly answer if they believe something is true or not if they don't know anything about what they are being asked about.
               
               GA

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   2. 86

      tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with the second to last paragraph pretty much. The ludicrous components that left leaning media emphasized did just what it was suppose to do. It grabbed the reader/viewer's attention. Yet, they are a social media phenomena within social media outlets (4chan, 8chan, 8kun, grab, etc) and their threads where Qanons read religiously. They see it as truth while looking for the mysterious Drops from Q himself.
      
      I think the main emphasis Q created was a fear in the deep state while laying it at the feet of the Democrats. And, that Trump was/is going to be their savior and lead them to its downfall. Thus, the strong allegiance to Trump.
      
      As far as the impact of it on the public and Republicans there are plenty of surveys that can be discovered on Google giving some degree of credence. For Republicans they range from 7% to 56%. Yet, they are pre-election. They won't show the impact of Trump's loss or not being inaugurated on March 4.
      
      One was done by Pew Research March 2020, QAnon’s conspiracy theories have seeped into U.S. politics, but most don’t know what it is. I think they are pretty credible.
      
      Another very interesting article showing its growth with a graph by The Conversation rated left lean, but high on factual ran Jan 7 is at the following link.
      Qanon and the Storm . . .

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      1. 81

         GA Andersonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the links tsmog. The Pew study was most reassuring. If it is reliable it indicates that the numbers PrettyPanther's linked study presented did not represent numbers of all Americans but of less than one-quarter of Americans. 17% of 23% is a lot less worrying than 17% of 100%.
         
         It had a second point that seemed to confirm what many here say—it is the media source, (in this instance liberal and conservative sources seemed equally guilty), that is responsible, with MSM broadcast media being the least culpable. That is another relief because it is my thought that they, (broadcast MSM), are where the majority of Middle America gets its news.
         
         So maybe the study means that 17% of 37 million, (23% of 160 million), or 6.3 million adult Americans believe some part of the QAnon stuff.
         
         That's a lot, but it is better than npr's implication of 27 million.
         
         GA

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            tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Polls are Polls and we know with the elections reliability is questionable. I think the sample set comes into play. For the NPR/Ipsos it is 1,115 and for Pew it is 10,300, yet the total of the set represents 100%. So, to me the 17% is of the population for the question asked by NPR/Ipsos and it is 23% for Pew saying who has knowledge of it.
            
            For interest at LiebmanLab is an article Support for QAnon is hard to measure — and polls may overestimate it. It shares results from five polls in a short read. One said 56% of Republicans about 14% of population believed Qanon.
            
            Bottom line it is in the millions. An article stated Facebook closed 7,800 groups with millions of followers. What is alarming to me is even with 17 false predictions they continued to thrive with a leap in growth in 2020. However, are they fading today with some to many abandoning Qanon or is it still thriving.
            
            Since mainstream social media sites have removed Qanon groups and posts including YouTube the followers are being driven to deeper darker rabbit holes and Parler is open again. I think that there remains a constant running thread in the garment that they are fighting a pedophile elitist deep state. And, Trump will defeat them as they now set out to avenge him. It will be interesting to see what happens.

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               PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Because I live in Trumpland, I see how many people believe the QAnon conspiracy theory. The funny thing is that many of them are, or were, unaware that it originated with Q.

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                  tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  That is interesting  especially because of your neighborhood while agreeing with you how many don't know about Q himself. Qanon is a generality protesting the deep state and of course the Democrats. One thing that alarmed me while looking into it last month was the presence of Qanons at protests and rallies. As we saw with Jan 6th and those arrested. What causes me to grimace is how many photos of rallies showed children holding signs advocating Q.

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                     PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Yes, this is why we must do all we can to relegate conspiracy theorists to the fringes. My state's GOP embraces the deep state theory and believes the election was stolen from Trump via massive election fraud perpetrated by the Democrats. That is their official position. Several QAnon believers have been elected to the state legislature. This seems scarily mainstream to me.

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2. 76

   Valeantposted 3 years ago

   Giving Q the mocking it deserves.
   
   

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