During an August 19 press conference, President Donald Trump was asked about the QAnon conspiracy theory, a violent pro-Trump movement that the FBI has labeled a potential domestic terror threat. He responded by endorsing the movement, saying, “I don’t know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate.” When the reporter followed up by describing to the president that “at the crux of the theory is this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals,” he responded, “Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? … If I can help save the world from problems, I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to put myself out there.”

The QAnon conspiracy theory has been linked to multiple acts of violence, and it has spurred an FBI field office to issue an internal memo that listed QAnon as a potential domestic terrorism threat. Nevertheless, dozens of QAnon conspiracy theorists have run for Congress and state legislatures in the primary elections this year, and many candidates will be on the ballot in November. Media Matters has also tracked a growing number of Republicans who have amplified the conspiracy theory.

After Trump’s comments, right-wing media figures predictably went to bat for him and either defended his comments, saying he was trolling his critics, or tried to deflect from them:

Right-wing radio host Dana Loesch:

Cartoonist Scott Adams:

Breitbart reporter Allum Bokhari: 

Breitbart White House correspondent Charlie Spiering:

Right-wing outlet The Blaze:

Fox News contributor Johnny Joey Jones:

Epoch Times' Anna Khait:

Conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec:

For more of Media Matters’ coverage of the QAnon conspiracy theory, visit here.

Fox News contributor Sara Carter:

Senior columnist at Townhall.com Kurt Schlichter: