Republican House candidate Burgess Owens attacked the left for criticizing the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory, stating: “One of the things we need to recognize with the left is if they ever say the word conspiracy, let’s look into it much deeper because there’s something they’re trying to keep us away from.” He also said after discussing child trafficking and QAnon that when it comes to “the far left,” “there's nothing too dark that these guys wouldn’t drift toward.”
Owens is a right-wing commentator who is running for Congress from Utah against incumbent Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams in what is one of the most competitive House races. The Republican candidate campaigned on two separate QAnon-supporting programs in May and September.
QAnon is a violence-linked conspiracy theory based on cryptic posts to online message boards from an anonymous user known as “Q" that have spread rampantly on social media and among fringe right-wing media. QAnon conspiracy theorists essentially believe that President Donald Trump is secretly working to take down the purported “deep state,” a supposed cabal of satanic high-ranking officials who they claim are operating pedophile rings. The FBI has labeled the conspiracy theory a potential domestic terror threat.The Republican Party and Trump have helped build up and support the QAnon conspiracy theory.
The conspiracy theory is also derailing legitimate anti-trafficking efforts. Insider reported last week that “at least 96 anti-trafficking organizations have denounced QAnon in an open letter that criticizes the group's sex trafficking conspiracy theories.”
Owens, however, has taken the opposite approach by attacking criticism of QAnon. He appeared on the October 22 broadcast of the radio program REELTalk with Audrey Russo and talked about child trafficking and QAnon.
After claiming ignorance about QAnon, Owens said that instead of solving the issue of child trafficking, “the left” is throwing “conspiracies at us. One of the things we need to recognize with the left is if they ever say the word conspiracy, let’s look into it much deeper because there’s something they’re trying to keep us away from.” From the interview:
BURGESS OWENS: What I find is interesting is that anytime you bring up child trafficking, we get from the left, a word called QAnon. Now, again, some you guys might have heard this word before. I have no idea what this organization is about until about four, five months ago. I have no idea. But it's interesting. Anyone who talks about trafficking, child trafficking, instead of the left adding into the conversation, trying to figure out how to, what's happening, how to make sure we resolve it -- instead of doing that they throw conspiracies at us. One of the things we need to recognize with the left is if they ever say the word conspiracy, let’s look into it much deeper because there’s something they’re trying to keep us away from. And the fact that Tim Tebow, Tim Ballard, the president, and myself and millions across the country that's trying to bring a light to this tremendous evil, the fact we're always linked to these -- this group, whoever they might be, says a lot. And by the way, you know, what I do know about is antifa. I do know about BLM. Inc. I know about those kind of organizations because of the damage and the threat they have to freedom-loving people in this country. Whatever this other group is, I have no idea. But at the end of the day, let's just keep an eye on that, guys, as we move this thing forward and get more visibility to those who really do need our help that have been held in slavery today.
After discussing child trafficking and QAnon, Owens stated of “the far left”: “There's nothing too dark that these guys wouldn’t drift toward.”
BURGESS OWENS: This is not a party issue. We have really good people. My family -- I’d say 90% of my family are Democrats. I mean, I love them dearly. We all love our country. The same with independents, even apolitical, and, of course, Republicans. Well, what we have to understand is that when you take God out of anything, what is left is pure evil. So understand that the right, the far right -- I mean, I’m sorry, the far left -- what they attack us on our culture, is they take away our education, our faith in God, in the family unit. That's what they're after. So just know this: Nothing -- there's nothing too dark that these guys wouldn’t drift toward.
Toward the conclusion of the interview, Owens said, “We’ve had termites in every single institution of our country that’s made us great and have been there for decades. Now that we see it, we can eradicate it.”
In addition to attacking criticism of QAnon, Owens has also frequently promoted content from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
