Trump falls deeper into QAnon rabbit hole with video post about ‘thieves, satanists, pedos’

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Donald Trump has again been accused of falling further into the world of QAnon after he shared multiple images nodding to the conspiracy theory in a video. 

The QAnon memes appeared in a minute-long montage shared by the former president on his own Truth Social media platform on Thursday night.

Scenes including a US Capitol building with lightening bolts and the words “It’s going to be biblical”, as well as the phrase “prepare for the storm”, were among the images featured.

“Q” symbols – one featuring Mr Trump standing in the middle – were also included in the montage, along with memes mentioning allegations of paedophilia and Satan, in reference to QAnon’s main tenets. 

The conspiracy theory is based on false allegations that Mr Trump, as president, was undermined by a secret cabal of Democrats and other global figures who are also paedophiles and Satan worshippers. 

Will Sommer, a politics reporter for The Daily Beast, tweeted of the Truth Social post: “Trump is really stepping his QAnon outreach — last night he posted a video filled with overt QAnon memes on TruthSocial.”

Recent analysis by the Associated Press found that of nearly 75 accounts reposted by Mr Trump on Truth Social in the past month, more than a third of them have promoted QAnon by sharing the movement’s slogans, videos or imagery.

About one in 10 of his posts also included “QAnon language” or links in their profile bios, the report added, while pointing out that the Republican had used a QAnon “theme song” at at least one campaign rally, prompting attendees to make a salute associated with the conspiracy.

Janet McIntosh, an anthropologist at Brandeis University who has studied QAnon, told the Associated Press that Mr Trump was signalling to his supporters that he shares their QAnon beliefs and mission, after being forced to deny knowledge of the movement in 2020.

“The ‘storm is coming’ is shorthand for something really dark that he’s not saying out loud,” Ms McIntosh said of the QAnon slogans. “This is a way for him to point to violence without explicitly calling for it. He is the prince of plausible deniability.”

On January 6, many of those who stormed the Capitol were seen with “Q” flags and clothing or had shown support for the conspiracy online, with the riot failing to overturn Mr Trump’s loss.