Donald Trump embraced the baseless conspiracy theory even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grew.
On Tuesday, the Republican former president used his Truth Social platform to post a picture of himself with a Q pin and the words "The Storm is Coming." The "storm" refers to Trump's final victory, when he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and possibly executed.
As Trump contemplates another run for the presidency and has become increasingly assertive in the Republican primary process, his actions show that he is welcoming it, even though he has distanced himself from the political fringe in the past.
He's published dozens of recent Q-related posts in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that he couldn't prove the conspiracy theory.
He asked if it was a bad thing that the nation was being saved from a satanic cult of child sex traffickers.
Trump is willing to save the world if he can.
In his recent postings, Trump referred to himself as a martyr fighting criminals, psychopaths and the deep state. One of the cryptic message board postings that QAnon supporters claim comes from an anonymous government worker with top secret clearance was reposted by him.
A Trump spokesman didn't reply to a request for comment.
Users who use the conspiracy theory have been amplified by Trump. More than a third of the accounts Trump has reposted on his Truth Social profile have promoted the Qanon movement, according to an Associated Press analysis. One in 10 have links in their profile bios.
Trump closed out his rally in Pennsylvania with a song. One of his recent campaign videos has a song called "WWG1WGA," which means "Where we go one, we go all."
Q followers basked in the attention of Trump.
One person commented on a message board. The president lied about Q. He will do it more and more until everyone gets it. It's okay to make fun of us all. Q is going to be everywhere soon.
The account on Truth Social wrote that the president was sending a clear message. He told the truth for a reason.
Mia Bloom, a professor at Georgia State University and author of a book about the group, said that the former president may be seeking solidarity with his most loyal supporters at a time when he is facing increasing investigations and potential challengers within his own party.
The people who have elevated Trump to messiah-like status are the only ones who can stop the group. There are a lot of images of Trump as Jesus in online spaces.
On Truth Social, QAnon-affiliated accounts praise Trump as a hero and vilify Biden by comparing him to Hitler. They applaud each other when Trump shares something. There are some accounts that show how many times Trump has lied to them.
By using their own language to directly address QAnon supporters, Trump is telling them that they've been right all along and that he shares their secret mission, according to Janet.
She said that it allowed Trump to endorse their beliefs and their hope for a violent uprising without explicitly saying so.
It's shorthand for something really dark that he's not saying out loud. He points to violence without calling for it. He's the prince of deniability.
Trump could try to market Q-related merchandise or ask his followers to donate to his legal defense.
It is a reckless move that feeds a dangerous movement.
A growing list of criminal episodes has been linked to people who supported the conspiracy theory.
During the failed insurrection in January of 2021, supporters of Qanon violently invaded the Capitol.
In November 2020, two men drove to a vote counting site in Philadelphia in a Hummer adorned with QAnon stickers and loaded with a rifle and other weapons. The prosecutors said they were trying to interfere.
A California man was accused of killing his two children because he thought they were serpents.
A Colorado woman was found guilty of trying to take her son from foster care after her daughter said she was associated with supporters of the Qanon group. Other people have been accused of doing things like abducting a child in France and killing a mob boss.
Police in Michigan shot and killed a man who they said had killed his wife and seriously injured his daughter. According to The Detroit News, a surviving daughter thinks her father was motivated by Qanon.
She told the newspaper that he was prone to mental issues and that it brought him down when he was on the internet.
On the same weekend a Pennsylvania man was arrested after he charged into a Dairy Queen with a gun and said he wanted to kill all Democrats.
Major social media platforms have banned content associated with QAnon and have blocked accounts that try to spread it. The group's activities have been forced onto platforms with less moderation, such as Telegram, Gab and Truth Social.
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