These days, when people find out I cohost a podcast covering the social phenomenon known as QAnon, they invariably ask, “Is that still going on?”
QAnon is a conspiracy theory movement positing that Donald Trump is waging a secret war against a cabal of satanic pedophiles embedded in the United States government. Adherents believe that, following a “Great Awakening” among the population, an event known as “the Storm” is coming. A form of biblical retribution, this storm would see their enemies jailed, tried in military courts, and even executed.
The conspiracy theory seems destined to stay fringe, but at its height, it was acknowledged by Trump at a televised town hall, appeared on the clothes of the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, and was promoted by lawyers attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. It led to kidnappings, a car chase, an armed standoff at the Hoover Dam, and even the murder of a mob boss.
Seven years after the first post or “drop” by the supposed political insider known as Q — a post claiming that Hillary Clinton would be arrested within forty-eight hours — QAnon, as a brand, is less visible than it once was. For obvious reasons, many QAnon adherents keep quiet about their participation in a movement that was structured around false predictions. In their silence, the movement has faded from national discourse. But that’s not because it disappeared.
In fact, QAnon’s ideology, networks, and practices are now integrated into American politics and how the population processes current events. The movement has attached to the mainstream like a parasitic fungus, working in symbiosis with its host while causing long-term changes to its behavior.
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Auteur: Julian Feeld
