QAnon influencer Austin Steinbart has claimed that he’s using multiple Arizona candidates as part of his “political strategy,” which includes “essentially a regime change operation.” Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Neely, whom Steinbart mentioned while discussing his plan, has since endorsed the QAnon conspiracy theory and a spinoff plan by Steibart that involves “quantum computing.”
In 2020, Steinbart -- who is currently managing the campaign of Arizona Republican congressional candidate Jerone Davison -- claimed that QAnon “is a military intelligence operation, the first of its kind, one that uses space age quantum technology to post messages from the future to internet forums in the present.” He also said “the main characters in this story” are former President Donald Trump, retired Adm. Michael Rogers, Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, the Defense Intelligence Agency, “myself, and Q+.” (QAnon supporters sometimes refer to Trump as “Q+.”) More recently, Steinbart pushed a spinoff plan about “quantum computing” that apparently involves using a “time-warping computer,” moving the capitol of the United States to Kansas, and dealing with “unconstitutional” federal agencies.
Steinbart has claimed that Davison also “really loves the quantum message” and has admitted that part of his strategy is using Davison’s campaign to go “really hard” on the “Q stuff,” along with “essentially a regime change operation towards the United States.”
In an early July audio message obtained by Media Matters, Steinbart revealed that he is in fact using multiple Arizona candidates, including Neely, as part of his “political strategy,” adding, “I need Jerone Davison, I need Scott Neely, I need Gail Golec [to be elected], and with those three politicians, I can execute the plan in real life.” Golec is Republican candidate for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and a conspiracy theorist who posted in April that “Steinbart Media … taped and are producing a promotional video for me.” Steinbart has said that “no one has fought harder for election integrity” than Golec and that he was “helping her with volunteers” and with “coordinating resources.”
Steinbart has since claimed that he needs those three candidates to stop “shenanigans” in elections, to stop “operatives” in Arizona with the National Guard and militias, and to deal with “satanic pedophile stuff” and “end this deep state.” He has also said that “the idea of this operation” is that “the United States is a corporation” and “we need to get rid of this corporation,” alluding to a false allegation that has spread in the QAnon community.
Neely appears to be connected to Steinbart, as he endorsed QAnon and echoed his “quantum” message during an appearance on July 15 on The Night Owl News, an online show co-hosted by QAnon supporter Dee Stevens. Neely said that “Q,” the conspiracy theory’s central figure, was “so many different people and it's so many different people with so many different questions,” and was “just questioning everything.” He added, “So in a sense … I’ve always been Q because I’ve always questioned things,” and he claimed that “if you have critical thinking skills, you are Q.” He also agreed with Stevens that “there’s no such thing” as QAnon, echoing a call from Q to deny that QAnon exists, and claimed that QAnon “might be one of the tribes.”
Later on in the interview, Neely urged the hosts to join “the real Q movement, cause the real Q movement is quantum.” He added that “quantum is the future of Q” and would “unlock so many doors for all of us and it’s going to fight back against the elites that are controlling us, essentially.” He also said, “I've kept my face out of Q this entire time, but it’s time to … be visible,” adding, “I’ve been in Q but I’ve been quiet. Not going to be quiet anymore.”
Neely has also supported and associated himself with Davison, saying in his Night Owl News interview that Davison is “the only other politician that I’ve met that I like so far in politics” and that Davison has “my 100% endorsement.” Neely has also campaigned for Davison and promoted him on his social media. Neely has also promoted Steinbart directly, amplifying his videos on Facebook.
Steinbart’s influence in Arizona electoral politics has been growing. Previously, he was listed as a staffer of the firm that ran the supposed “audit” of ballots cast in Maricopa County for the 2020 presidential election, and he also spoke at the premiere of an election conspiracy theory movie that focused on the supposed audit. He also is not the only QAnon influencer involved with elections behind the scenes: Wayne Willott, known online as “Juan O. Savin,” has also been participating in an effort to recruit and elect secretary of state candidates around the country.
