In 2021, people thought QAnon would go away -- instead, it continued to fuel attacks on democracy

[Nevilledog]

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Alex Kaplan
@AlKapDC
NEW from me:

In 2021, people thought QAnon would go away. It didn't.

Instead, QAnon fueled false voter fraud claims, claims about Trump being reinstated, the "audit" & "decertify" movement -- & an alleged plot that could lead to a constitutional crisis.

In 2021, people thought QAnon would go away -- instead, it continued to fuel attacks on democracy
mediamatters.org
7:24 AM · Dec 31, 2021

https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/2021-people-thought-qanon-would-go-away-instead-it-continued-fuel-attacks


In early 2021, there was speculation that the movement built around the QAnon conspiracy theory had finally reached an end, with “Q” -- the central figure of QAnon -- having gone silent in December 2020. But the year started with dozens of QAnon supporters participating in an assault on the United States Capitol, fueled by a belief in false claims of large-scale voter fraud the QAnon community helped spread. And the events of January 6 were the harbinger of what was to come: a year in which QAnon influencers and adherents promoted conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election, helped organize efforts to challenge or “audit” the election results, and aided in an alleged plot that, if successful, may help sway the outcome of future elections at the state and national level.

An alleged plot announced by Jim Marchant, a former member of the Nevada state Assembly and now a Nevada secretary of state candidate, is a primary example of how dangerous QAnon became in 2021. On October 25, Marchant took the stage at the QAnon-supporting “Patriot Double Down” conference, claiming that he lost his congressional campaign due to voter fraud. Marchant then said he was asked to “put together a coalition” in swing states “of other like-minded secretary of state candidates” -- referring to the officials that help run elections -- and that he had successes with the involvement and recruitment of QAnon-connected figures thus far.

Although there had been discussion about QAnon dying out in 2021, efforts like Marchant’s show that QAnon has continued to erode our democratic system and may even pose threaten a constitutional crisis -- even without “Q.” Though several social media platforms had finally announced crackdowns on QAnon by early 2021, these efforts were too little too late. By not dealing with QAnon earlier on (Facebook even spent years algorithmically promoting it), these platforms enabled the community to grow, becoming so big and organized that adherents no longer need their titular leader. Meanwhile, it’s become an easy vehicle for political figures to advance anti-democratic agendas.

After Q fell silent in December 2020, some speculated that 2021 would be the end of QAnon. The conspiracy theory had been around for more than three years at that point, starting in October 2017, when an anonymous figure known as Q posted on message board site 4chan (and later on 8chan/8kun), claiming to have “Q” government clearance and promising to have an inside scoop showing then-President Donald Trump had a secret plot that would take down his perceived enemies, the “deep state,” and a cabal of pedophiles.

*snip*

[Buns_of_Fire]

1. Not only are they still here - they're running for Congress!

Margie the Kook can't humiliate them all by herself!

Here are the QAnon supporters running for Congress in 2022
https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/here-are-qanon-supporters-running-congress-2022

Among these 49 current or former candidates who have previously endorsed or given credence at some level to the conspiracy theory or promoted QAnon content:

* Twelve are from Florida, nine are from California, five are from Texas, three are from New York and Arizona, two each are from Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio, and there is one each from Maryland, Rhode Island, Oregon, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Alaska, Georgia, and Colorado.

* One of the candidates, in Florida, ran for a special congressional election being held in January 2022.

* Forty-four are Republicans and five are independents.

* Thirty-five previously ran for Congress in 2020. Two previously ran for a state legislative seat in 2020.

[relayerbob]

2. Who thought that?

People don’t give up delusional belief systems easily, their egos won’t allow it.