US media is reporting that dozens of US politicians running for state and federal offices are aligning themselves with the QAnon conspiracy movement. According to a Grid news report:
April 12, 2022 Dozens of politicians running for state or federal office are aligning themselves with the right-wing, conspiracy-rich, sometimes-violent movement known as QAnon. They’re drawing tens of millions of dollars in donations as the movement’s popularity stays strong among voters, a Grid investigation has found. And despite the movement’s penchant for lies and violence, key Republicans — from influential megadonors to prominent elected officials — are welcoming the QAnon movement into the party, Grid found. In sum: QAnon appears to be a growing political movement with increasing clout and significant mainstream appeal. Grid reviewed public records and reporting, social media posts, and campaign materials and events to identify and confirm at least 78 QAnon-aligned candidates running for office in 26 states in 2022. They’re running for governorships, secretaries of state, seats in the Senate and House, and in state legislatures. They have raised over $20 million this cycle — and over $30 million since 2018. All but six of the QAnon-aligned candidates Grid examined are Republican. Over a dozen are incumbents: Marjorie Taylor Greene (R‑Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R‑Colo.) serve in the House of Representatives, while another 14 serve at the state level, mostly legislatures. Most are running against fellow Republicans in primaries, which will take place throughout the spring and summer. Arizona has the highest number of QAnon-aligned candidates running in 2022, at 13. Other states with high numbers of QAnon candidates include Florida (12), California (10) and Texas (six). “You will win by large margins”
Read the rest here.
In January 2021, the BBC described QAnon as follows:
At its heart, QAnon is a wide-ranging, unfounded conspiracy theory that says that President Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media. QAnon believers have speculated that this fight will lead to a day of reckoning where prominent people such as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be arrested and executed.media captionTrump on QAnon: ‘They do like me’ That’s the basic story, but there are so many offshoots, detours and internal debates that the total list of QAnon claims is enormous — and often contradictory. Adherents draw in news events, historical facts and numerology to develop their own far-fetched conclusions.
The Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) has reported extensively on the role that QAnon has played in many different influence operations.
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