Before his Twitter account was suspended on January 8, 2021, President Donald Trump had amplified accounts promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory at least 315 times via at least 168 individual accounts, some of them more than once. (During the novel coronavirus pandemic in the United States in his presidency, he amplified QAnon-promoting Twitter accounts at least 219 times via 107 individual accounts.) Additionally, members of Trump's family, his personal attorney, current and former campaign staffers, and even some current and former Trump administration officials have also repeatedly amplified QAnon supporters and their content.
Trump has repeatedly amplified QAnon Twitter accounts. The FBI has linked the conspiracy theory to domestic terror.
During his presidency, Trump amplified QAnon-promoting Twitter accounts at least 315 times
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On October 14, 2018, Trump quote tweeted @WyattEarpLA.
@WyattEarpLA has frequently endorsed QAnon. It has even referenced “Q Drops,” the cryptic posts made by the anonymous 8chan poster known as “Q.” People in the QAnon community baselessly believe that Q is somebody or a group of government insiders close to President Trump. [Contemptor, 11/28/18]
From a QAnon conspiracy theorist to actor James Woods to comedian Larry the Cable Guy to the leader of the free world. Thus travels information in the age of Twitter and President Trump, who took a late-night swing at a familiar punching bag — the Transportation Security Administration — via a nearly two-year-old video spread by a character on the far fringes of the Internet.
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The video was reshared on Monday by a Twitter account called Deep State Exposed, which is operated by Jeremy Stone, a follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Stone’s twitter bio includes the phrase “WWG1WGA,” shorthand for “Where We Go One We Go All,” a rallying cry for the bizarre theory that ties together the Pizzagate conspiracy and a supposed “deep state” plot to control American politics. Stone soon added a follow-up tweet to the viral video claiming that “TSA goes out of their way to hire high school dropouts with an inclination for sexual perversion. It’s mind control!!!” [The Washington Post, 3/20/19]
Two signs promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory are visible in a video from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, marking the latest link between the president and followers of the fringe movement that the FBI recently described as a potential source of domestic terror.
The signs, which were first noticed by Vox reporter Aaron Rupar, appear in a close-up shot in a “Women for Trump” video posted by Trump’s campaign late in July. Around halfway into the video, the first sign appears, with Trump’s “Keep America Great” slogan and a “Q” taped onto it. Another shows “Q”’s replacing the O’s on a “Women for Trump” sign. [The Daily Beast, 8/7/19]
After reciting the QAnon rallying cry onstage at a Thursday evening Trump rally in Cincinnati, self-described “former liberal” Brandon Straka told TPM Friday that he does not support Q and denied that he was referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory.
“I was not making any references to QAnon whatsoever or subtly hinting to that, and obviously I’m disappointed that the media has chosen to focus on this,” Straka told TPM.
Straka, a gay Manhattan hairdresser and aspiring actor who leads a group called Walk Away that aims to lead minorities away from the Democratic Party, denied any relationship with QAnon.
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Straka had told the crowd on Thursday that Trump “is not a president who panders to minorities because he needs them,” rather, he “serves minorities because he loves them. And he loves this country. We are all in this together.”
Straka concluded: “Where we go one, we go all.” [Talking Points Memo, 8/2/19]