Watch CNN's Sara Sidner cite Media Matters to explain the overt links Trump has made with QAnon
Sidner: “For some in the QAnon world, this was another symbol, a wink and a nod to them that Donald Trump is a believer in their outlandish conspiracies”
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From the September 19, 2022, edition of CNN's The Lead
JAKE TAPPER (HOST): Former President Trump addressed supporters during a rally for Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, during which there were many bizarre moments, including what many observers have noted appears to be echoes of the propaganda put out by adherents of the deranged and occasionally deadly QAnon conspiracy theory, propaganda that Trump has repeatedly and unequivocally shared in recent weeks on his social media account. CNN's Sara Sidner joins us now live with more on this. Sara, can you point to the things that Trump said or did that are linked to the QAnon conspiracy?
SARA SIDNER (CORRESPONDENT): Yeah, Jake, you know, this weekend Trump made a very ominous and dark speech about the decline of America. And while doing so, music began playing. And the music sounded exactly like a song called, "WWG1WGA," "Where We Go One, We Go All," it's what that stands for. It's a slogan that was co-opted by QAnon conspiracy theorists and used over and over and over again. For some in the QAnon world, this was another symbol, a wink and a nod to them that Donald Trump is a believer in their outlandish conspiracies.
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These are not at all the first links that Donald Trump has made with QAnon, but this past week have been the most overt. We were able to speak to a Trump spokesperson who responded to questions about the song that was played, saying it was not a QAnon song at all, but a song called "Mirror" and then said this, that, "The fake news, in a pathetic attempt to create controversy and divide America, is brewing up another conspiracy about a royalty free song from a popular audio library platform."
Now, the way that Media Matters, a group which tracks right-wing political extremists in media, says Trump has posted or reposted more than 100 messages linked to QAnon since the beginning of the year.