|
Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2020 18:48:18 GMT
Trump supporters displaying QAnon posters appeared at President Donald J. Trumps Make America Great Again rally Thomas O'Neill/NurPhoto President Trump crossed a new line Wednesday — one that until recently no one knew existed — when he offered praise from the White House briefing room for the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which the FBI has labeled a potential domestic terrorism threat. QAnon followers "like me very much" and "love America," the president told reporters, before affirming the group's core belief that he is in fact "saving the world" from the "radical left." NBC News correspondent Shannon Pettypiece kicked off the discussion, asking, "Can you talk about what you think about [QAnon] and what you have to say to people who are following this movement right now?" "I don't know much about the movement, other than I understand they like me very much. Which I appreciate. But I don't know much about the movement," Trump said. He then connected the values of the group to one of his own campaign themes — law and order. "I have heard that it is gaining in popularity, and from what I hear ... these are people that don't like seeing what's going on in places like Portland, and places like Chicago and New York and other cities and states," the president said. "I've heard these are people that love our country and they just don't like seeing it," he added. "So I don't know really anything about it other than they do supposedly like me. And they also would like to see problems in these areas, like especially the areas that we're talking about, go away." Trump then vowed he would send in "troops or law enforcement or whatever they would like" to cities to help "straighten out their problems."
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 27, 2020 5:35:40 GMT
One of the speakers for the second night of the Republican National Convention was pulled from the program after The Daily Beast surfaced a tweet from her, earlier in the day, urging her followers to investigate a supposed Jewish plot to enslave the world.
“Do yourself a favor and read this thread,” Mary Ann Mendoza, who is a member of the Trump campaign’s advisory board, tweeted to her more than 40,000 followers Tuesday morning.
Mendoza, an “angel mom,” was scheduled to speak Tuesday about her son’s 2014 death at the hands of a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. But a Republican source familiar with the programming said the speech had been cancelled amid uproar over her tweet.
Hours earlier, Mendoza had linked to a lengthy thread from a QAnon conspiracy theorist that laid out a fevered, anti-Semitic view of the world. In its telling, the Rothschilds—a famous Jewish banking family from Germany—created a plot to terrorize non-Jewish “goyim,” with purported details of their scheme that included plans to “make the goyim destroy each other” and “rob the goyim of their landed properties.”
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Sept 3, 2020 0:23:45 GMT
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Republican congressional primary win in Georgia ensures, in all likelihood, that the heavily Republican district will be represented by a QAnon conspiracy theorist in the 117th Congress. But Greene was just one of several primary candidates who embraced the conspiracy, which coincides with the trend of “Q” paraphernalia appearing at Republican rallies. The conspiracy originated in 2017, when a mysterious poster named “Q” began posting to the internet message board 4chan. Q soon amassed a following, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that its popularity exploded. Q’s near-daily posts detail the existence of a satanic cabal of pedophiles that secretly control the government and other institutions. They promise that the enterprise, run by Democrats and celebrities, will soon be taken down by Trump. This may sound like a new development – some might say a new low – in American politics. But it isn’t the first time candidates have promoted conspiracies as part of their platform to win seats in Congress. In the 1820s, an anti-Masonic conspiracy theory dominated politics in the Northeast. It even birthed a political party, the Anti-Masonic Party, which ended up holding its own presidential convention and nominating the United States’ first third-party candidate. Media attention backfires Political scientist Michael Barkun describes conspiracy theories as “stigmatized knowledge,” in which attempts to invalidate the claims only reinforce the beliefs among followers, who see these efforts as proof that those in power want the theories muzzled. This is the same impetus that no doubt helped transform the unsolved mystery of William Morgan’s disappearance into a nationwide political movement. QAnon discussions frequently blame the mainstream media for intentionally discrediting them in order to prop up the cabal. Under a YouTube video explaining Q, one commenter wrote, “‘Conspiracy Theory’ is CIA-speak for ‘Uh-oh! They KNOW!’” A poster on “Q Research Forum” wondered “where is the journalist who will do a ‘what the [mainstream media] won’t tell you about Q’ story?”
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Sept 7, 2020 19:23:32 GMT
President Donald Trump on Sunday retweeted a message from conservative agitator Charlie Kirk that declared, “All the lockdowns must end immediately.”
His amplification of the anti-science sentiment comes as much of the U.S. is coping with a surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the lifting of restrictions this summer and the reopening of schools. The number of American deaths is climbing toward the 200,000 mark, and U.S. cases have topped 6.2 million.
Kirk, co-founder of student group Turning Point USA, has repeatedly questioned the use of masks and social distancing to stop the pandemic, even as his mentor, Bill Montgomery, died from the virus.
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Feb 3, 2021 20:37:29 GMT
House Democrats are moving ahead with a vote to strip QAnon promoter Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee posts even as GOP leaders grapple with what to do about the controversial Georgia Republican.
The fate of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's future is now in the hands of a group of House Republicans who are deliberating whether to punish the Georgia congresswoman for extreme comments she made before winning her seat, as a growing number of Senate Republicans say she shouldn't be welcome in the party.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met for several hours Tuesday night with Greene at the Capitol. The California Republican has been silent amid the controversy but has been under growing pressure to act, summoning the powerful Steering Committee for a late-night meeting amid pressure to remove the Georgia Republican from her committee assignments.
The GOP steering panel can remove Republican House members from their committee posts, but two officials with direct knowledge of the meeting told CNN that the committee did not make a decision as of Tuesday night.
McCarthy asked if Greene would apologize for her past comments and views, which she did not agree to, a person with knowledge of the matter tells CNN. Another person familiar with their conversation also said that McCarthy provided a slew of options to her, including that she could show remorse and apologize.
McCarthy and the steering committee also discussed other options, including forcing her off just the Education Committee but letting her stay on the Budget Committee, according to a person with knowledge of the talks. But it's not clear that Democrats would be OK with that, especially if she doesn't apologize.
Officials said the Steering Committee will meet again Wednesday to see if they can come to a decision. Greene did not meet with the panel.
|
|