Correction (3/31/24): The article has been updated to reflect that Smith claims only Into the Light was screened, despite the event’s flier indicating that both of his films would be shown at Mar-a-Lago.
Former President Donald Trump appeared onstage at a Mar-a-Lago event with filmmaker and QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Smith and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The film screened at the event, which was hosted by Flynn’s America’s Future, was the sequel to Smith’s film that pushed the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory.
On March 28, America’s Future — a group run by Flynn and his family which has become increasingly tied to QAnon, with multiple QAnon figures including Liz Crokin being involved with the organization — hosted Smith at Mar-a-Lago. (Flynn himself is tied to the conspiracy theory and to We The Media, a QAnon influencer collective.) According to the event flier, the event would have “special movie screenings of Out of Shadows and Into the Light -- masterpiece films rocking the world with the truth about how information deception, psyops, and mind manipulation are used to control reality.” However, according to Smith, only Into the Light was ultimately screened.
During the event, Trump appeared on stage with Smith and Flynn, with Trump shaking their hands and going on to laud Flynn, according to video uploaded by attendee Ben Moore, who is a member of America’s Future and a QAnon influencer known online as “Sun Tzu.”
In addition to Smith, Flynn, and Moore, fellow America’s Future members Crokin and Lara Logan were also in attendance at the event (like Smith and Crokin, Logan is also a Pizzagate conspiracy theorist and has sympathized with QAnon).
Smith, a former Hollywood stuntman, became known in 2020 when his YouTube film Out of Shadows quickly racked up millions of views, and he has since expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, repeatedly posting variations of the QAnon slogan (“where we go one, we go all,” or “WWG1WGA”), thanking the “Q team,” and even becoming a member of We The Media.
The film Out of Shadows “alleges, among other things, that Hollywood is run by Satanic pedophilia rings” and pushes the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory, with Crokin baselessly claiming during the film that a D.C. pizzeria was part of a child trafficking ring. Smith has credited Crokin for getting him into Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory which inspired a man to open fire in the restaurant in December 2016.
Into the Light, which was screened at Mar-a-Lago, is the sequel to Out of Shadows and is described as “a movie made to bring to surface that psychological operations are present and active in today’s society.” The film features interviews with Flynn, Logan, and others, and pushes conspiracy theories about the World Economic Forum and the “great reset.”
Trump’s appearance at a Mar-a-Lago event tied to QAnon and Pizzagate comes after the former president previously appeared at a December 2022 America’s Future event at his property that also featured Crokin pushing Pizzagate, where Trump was photographed with her. It is also yet another example of Trump’s relationship with the QAnon community, which he and those in his orbit have increasingly embraced.
