vox--2020-08-20--QAnon, the scarily popular pro-Trump conspiracy theory, explained

Followers of the conspiracy theory QAnon believe a lot of things .
There ’ s never been chaos in the Donald Trump White House .
The stories are just cover to let Trump and , at one time , special counsel Robert Mueller do their work to expose thousands of pedophiles hidden in plain sight — including Hillary Clinton ... and Bill Clinton , and Barack Obama , and Tom Hanks , and Chrissy Teigen .
They ’ ll soon be under arrest , or perhaps they are already on their way to Guantanamo Bay .
Their crimes ?
Torturing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chemical from their blood .
It ’ s an all-encompassing conspiracy theory that has one overarching — and , if you ’ re a Trump supporter , hopeful — message : Donald Trump is in complete control .
Of everything .
And against true evil , Trump is standing up for all that is good and right .
QAnon swept social media over the past three years , pushed by some of the far right ’ s biggest voices , including Alex Jones and Sean Hannity .
Nineteen current congressional candidates have expressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Greene , the leading candidate in the race for Georgia ’ s 14th Congressional District seat .
She said in 2017 that QAnon was “ a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out.
” And on Wednesday , the person at the center of the “ storm , ” a term of art in among QAnon followers , seemingly endorsed it , telling the White House press corps , “ I don ’ t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all varieties tend to embrace them as a means to create order out of chaos or to make sense of events that don ’ t make sense .
Unfortunately , researchers have found that fact-based arguments against conspiracy theorists only serve to reinforce them in the minds of believers .
That ’ s what makes QAnon or Sandy Hook trutherism or any other conspiracy theory so difficult to combat .
Conspiracy theories aren ’ t based on facts ; conspiracy theorists aren ’ t receptive to them , either .
So if the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and chaos , QAnon is the conspiratorial response : Everything is fine .
As a popular saying among Q adherents proclaims , believers must only “ trust the plan.
” The beginnings of “ the Storm ” lie with Donald Trump himself .
On October 5 , 2017 , during a photo opportunity held before a military dinner , Trump said that the dinner was “ Maybe the calm before the storm.
” When a reporter asked , “ What storm , Mr. President ?
” Trump responded , “ You ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this was Trump-speak .
He tends to just say things that have little to no relevance to anything either he or his administration will actually do — like that “ maybe we should give ” the Chinese style of one-man dictatorship “ a shot.
” But for conspiracy theorists on Reddit , already primed to believe in code words and secrets and , well , conspiracies , his words took on new and apocalyptic meaning .
As Travis View , a QAnon researcher and co-host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast , told PBS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Storm ” has become a predicted “ great mass arrest event , in which over 100,000 people from the highest levels of power and entertainment are arrested and face a great day of reckoning.
” When Republican congressional candidate and QAnon follower Angela Stanton King — who is running to replace the late Sen. John Lewis — was retweeted by President Trump on August 6 , she tweeted , “ THE STORM IS HERE.
” The Texas Republican Party is now even selling “ We Are the Storm ” merchandise .
The first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be a high-level government informant came on October 28 , on the 4chan message board /pol/ .
The user was nicknamed “ Q ” after Q-level security clearance , the Energy Department equivalent of “ Top Secret.
” ( “ NG ” refers to the National Guard . )
A few hours later , Q posted again , adding coded phrases that /pol/ users would interpret and argue over for months .
In short , he or she appeared to state that Hillary Clinton had been “ detained ” by authorities and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” including Clinton , had to be arrested , while referencing billionaire philanthropist George Soros , himself the subject of a number of conspiracy theories .
These postings were thrilling for people steeped in far-right conspiracy theory lore — from the very real Operation Mockingbird , a CIA effort to blackmail journalists and give out false information to share propaganda , to the wild theory that Huma Abedin , a former Hillary Clinton staffer and ex-wife of Anthony Weiner , was secretly working for the Muslim Brotherhood .
( She wasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seemed to imply that this person knew things others didn ’ t .
The rapidly expanding group of people who follow Q ’ s postings — and believe them — became known as QAnon .
Q occasionally tried to offer “ proof ” that they had real intel .
( They posted images that redditors believed confirmed Q was on Air Force One , and thus had real information from the president . )
Some followers even believe that Trump is Q — though others think it ’ s John F. Kennedy Jr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death .
When Trump spoke at Mount Rushmore this past Fourth of July , some QAnon believers were convinced that the occasion would mark JFK Jr. ’ s return .
Q offered real hope to Trump supporters : Everything is fine , Trump has everything under control , and everyone who stands in his way will soon be sent to prison .
Literally .
In a posting on November 1 , 2017 , Q said that on November 3 and 4 , John Podesta , chair of Clinton ’ s 2016 campaign , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take hold , and “ public riots would be organized in serious numbers to prevent the arrest and capture of more senior public officials ” : Obviously , none of this happened .
There were no public riots or mass arrests or the use of emergency broadcasts .
( In fact , the Emergency Broadcast System went out of service in 1997 , replaced by the Emergency Alert System . )
The overwhelming majority of Q ’ s assertions have been hilariously untrue : that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was placed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seth Rich was murdered by MS13 under orders from former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz ( a viewpoint spread by congressional candidate Greene ) , that many prominent Democrats are currently wearing ankle monitors because they are secretly under arrest .
And really , QAnon ’ s base assertion — that Trump is in control of everything — was an inherently strange one to make when the Trump administration did actually control the entire federal government at the time the conspiracy theory seemingly began .
But that didn ’ t stop QAnon from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8chan ( 4chan ’ s weirder equivalent ) , and then pushing outward on the internet , to Twitter and YouTube and Instagram and elsewhere , with believers making “ explainer ” videos about QAnon that get millions of views .
And as it did , QAnon became about far more than specific predictions of dire consequences for Nancy Pelosi or assorted celebrities .
And that has made it far easier to spread .
QAnon is now about everything — and it ’ s in the real world QAnon is now an all-encompassing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offshoots and side plots .
QAnon adherents helped spread the conspiratorial documentary “ Plandemic ” online , and anti-mask conspiracy theories have been popular among QAnon fans on Instagram who argue that masks are helping child traffickers get away with their crimes .
One acolyte might assert that Bill and Hillary Clinton have been executed ; another might argue that actor Tom Hanks is a pedophile and “ would be the first big name unsealed indictment , ” arrested for his alleged involvement in satanic pedophilic rituals , because Q used the word @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tom Hanks starred in the 1988 film Big .
It ’ s those accusations of pedophilia , baselessly aimed at celebrities , companies , and politicians , that are at the very center of QAnon .
Thousands of QAnon acolytes have taken over hashtags like # SaveTheChildren and bombarded hotlines intended for victims of human trafficking , attempting to divert attention from real victims of predation and abuse to the elites who are supposedly heading up cabals of pedophiles .
And they believe that Trump is taking real action against these alleged criminals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in arrests of sex traffickers .
For the record , there was not an “ unprecedented ” increase in sex trafficking arrests back in 2018 , there isn ’ t one taking place now , and arrests are a terrible metric for determining the success of anti-sex trafficking efforts .
But that hasn ’ t stopped some of the biggest proponents of QAnon from arguing that not only are celebrities taking part in Satanic pedophilic rituals , they are doing so to obtain the chemical adrenochrome , which they believe famous actors and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children in order to maintain their youthful appearances .
That specific conspiracy theory has gained traction , as Wired Magazine ’ s Brian Friedberg wrote in July of 2020 : For the record , there is no evidence that adrenochrome — a chemical largely made famous not by scientists , but by Hunter S. Thompson ’ s 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — does anything of note ( Thompson even told the director of the film adaptation of his book that he made up the chemical ’ s effects .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t stop conspiracy theorists .
Adrenochrome conspiracy theories even made their way to a December 2018 House Judiciary Committee hearing with Google CEO Sundar Pichai , when Rep. Jamie Raskin ( D-MD ) asked Pichai about how YouTube ’ s algorithm was pushing a conspiracy theory known as “ Frazzledrip , ” which argues the following : Hillary Clinton and former Clinton aide Huma Abedin were filmed ripping off a child ’ s face and wearing it as a mask before drinking the child ’ s blood in a satanic ritual sacrifice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that video was then found on the hard drive of Abedin ’ s former husband , Anthony Weiner , under the code name “ Frazzledrip.
” ( Absolutely none of this is true . )
And during the Covid-19 pandemic , QAnon adherents have come to believe that celebrities looking tired or acting strangely on Instagram was the result not of the same shutdown millions of Americans were experiencing , but of losing access to the chemical .
There ’ s a reason for the focus on pedophilia in QAnon : As Slate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 , accusations of pedophilia are the easiest and most effective way to tarnish someone ’ s reputation with no proof necessary , as pedophilia is universally considered a horrific and horrendous affront .
And since perhaps the only thing even more horrendous is the murder of children , it ’ s no wonder , then , that one of the main proponents of QAnon posted on YouTube that Americans would be forced to comprehend “ films of innocent children pleading for their lives while people are butchering them ” once “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isn ’ t about protecting Trump , in their view .
It ’ s about saving children from rape and murder — and who could oppose that ?
As Marc-André Argentino , a doctoral student at Concordia University who studies QAnon , told the New York Times , “ Everyone agrees that child trafficking is very bad , and the argument QAnon makes is , ‘ If you ’ re against us talking about this , you ’ re in favor of child trafficking.
’ ” And with real-life wealthy sex predators like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people of all political stripes , a movement focused on unmasking them and bringing them to justice seems deeply appealing .
But the open source nature of QAnon , where Q posts something for thousands of other people to interpret as they see fit , means other conspiracy theories fit neatly within QAnon — like ones about false flag shootings , Jewish bankers controlling the world , or the Illuminati .
As the Daily Beast ’ s Will Sommer wrote in 2019 : One example : When NBC ’ s Ben Collins went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempt to explain QAnon , one poster alleged that his script had been “ written by Jacob Rothschild.
” The Rothschild family has been the center of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for centuries , and for the record , Jacob Rothschild is 84 years old , lives in England , and is not writing “ scripts ” for the Today show .
The open source nature of the conspiracy theory also makes it easier to sell to newcomers , interested in fighting human trafficking or child abuse and with YouTube algorithms and Facebook groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rabbit hole of conspiracy .
“ I can ’ t really spend any time with my mother because all she ’ ll want to talk about is Q ” Beginning in early 2018 , QAnon adherents made their way to the world outside the internet , marching in Washington and demanding the release of secret memos that would expose the truth of QAnon and herald “ the Storm.
” In 2018 , one man , Matthew Wright , took a rifle and a handgun and barricaded himself in his car on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ RELEASE THE OIG MEMO , ” referring to that supposed second report .
Since then , there have been dozens of instances of people arrested in QAnon-related plots : the Denver woman who allegedly tried to kidnap her child from a foster care facility with the help of other QAnon believers ; the Texas woman who believed that Trump was “ literally taking down the cabal and the pedophile ring ” who was arrested for ramming her car into other vehicles , intending to rescue children she believed were being trafficked ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was trying to help Trump and stop the “ deep state ” by killing a high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family .
A QAnon supporter who planned to attack Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was arrested in May 2020 , a month after a man with QAnon ties was arrested for intentionally derailing a train with the intention of aiming it at a hospital ship in San Pedro , California .
Many of these people were and are experiencing issues with existing mental illnesses .
Rein Lively , a former QAnon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video attacking a display of face masks at Target in July 2020 , told NBC News reporter Ben Collins that she was living with bipolar disorder , and after weeks of following QAnon related groups on Facebook and Instagram , came to believe that she was part of the “ Great Awakening , ” and had to act in order to help Trump and save the world .
One woman whose mother has become deeply enmeshed in QAnon told Vice in 2019 that her mother deals with mental health issues , and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ She had a hard time anyway dealing with the real world , and now the world is so much worse for her because of all the horrible things the cult deals with : devil worship , sex trafficking , children being tortured and eaten or used as sex slaves.
” She added , “ I can ’ t really spend any time with my mother because all she ’ ll want to talk about is Q , and I refuse.
” And she ’ s not alone — there are dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internet from people struggling with how to reach loved ones who have become enamored of QAnon .
And the coronavirus pandemic has only increased QAnon ’ s reach as more people do more online than ever before .
As Axios reporters Stef W. Kight and Sara Fischer noted , Google search interest in QAnon increased 10 fold from January to July , and the use of the hashtag has increased as well .
And despite efforts by Facebook , Twitter , and other social media giants to stop the spread of QAnon content @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have furthered the conspiracy theory , retweeting and sharing QAnon-related content hundreds of times .
Eric Trump even shared a “ Q ” message on Instagram , using the popular QAnon hashtag # WWG1WGA , which stands for “ Where We Go One , We Go All.
” ( He later deleted it . )
What Trump knows about QAnon is that it is about how great Trump is It ’ s worth noting that there is no indication that Trump , the epicenter of this entire conspiracy theory , has any idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hanks , Oprah Winfrey , and George W. Bush are part of an elite pedophile ring , hell-bent on consuming the blood of children .
When questioned during a press conference on Wednesday , Trump appeared to believe the conspiracy theory was focused on supporting his efforts to tamp down urban unrest , saying QAnon adherents are “ people who don ’ t like seeing what is going on in places like Portland , and in places like Chicago and New York and other cities — and states .
And I ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country , and they just don ’ t like seeing it.
” When he was then asked , “ What about the theory , this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this titanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals ?
Does that sound like something you are behind ?
” Trump responds : None of this indicates that he has any indication that he understands the basis of the conspiracy theory .
Rather , it indicates that all he knows of the conspiracy theory is that it ’ s about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HotAir.com ’ s Allahpundit wrote on Wednesday : The reporter did not note that the FBI labeled QAnon and other conspiracy theories as a domestic terror threat in 2019 , nor did they mention the attacks and violence that have been credited to QAnon believers .
Conspiracy theories are hard to fight because they ’ re about what we want to believe Other conspiracy theorists have attempted to throw cold water on QAnon , like this blogger who wrote that he too had been a believer but , after reviewing the evidence , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” by a LARPer ( live-action role player ) creating a fantastical story for their own entertainment .
But true believers remain deeply committed .
And with Trump ’ s seeming support , they have every reason to be .
Conspiracy theories like QAnon are “ self-sealing ” — meaning that evidence against them can become evidence of their validity in the minds of believers , according to Stephan Lewandowsky , a professor at the University of Bristol who studies conspiracy theories and conspiracists .
Trying to disprove a conspiracy theory thus usually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For example , if scientists are accused of creating a ‘ hoax , ’ such as climate change , but they are then exonerated by multiple enquiries , then a conspiracy theorist will not accept that as evidence of their innocence , but as evidence of a broad conspiracy ( to create a world government or whatever ) that involves the government , judiciary , Soros , and anyone else who once shared a supermarket checkout line with Al Gore in the 1970s , ” Lewandowsky said .
And here ’ s the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t created by evidence , but by belief , or by the desire to believe , that there must be something more to the events that shape our lives , culture , and politics than accident or happenstance .
Where there is confusion , or even pain and tragedy , QAnon , or shootings termed “ false flags , ” or 9/11 trutherism brings some semblance of order and security .
The 9/11 attacks were so horrific that they can ’ t possibly have happened without President George W. Bush being behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scenes .
A mass shooting at an elementary school that killed so many small children is so terrible that it can ’ t possibly have really happened .
And the Trump administration must only seem to be enmeshed in constant chaos .
Let ’ s be clear : Most people have never heard of QAnon , or Q — and that includes most of Trump ’ s supporters .
Those who have heard of it tend to rate it unfavorably .
As detailed by the Washington Post in August , when asked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1-100 scale ( 1 being least positive , 100 being most positive ) , a sample group of Floridians rated it about a 21 , with Democrats and Republicans rating it similarly .
But there are those who do believe in QAnon , who believe that Trump is a “ light worker ” trying to save the world from elite pedophiles .
And as the Spectator ’ s Ben Sixsmith argued in May 2020 , those followers have been egged on by a president who promised them vengeance against their enemies and never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against reality : QAnon provides a soothing balm , telling believers that the only people who really know what ’ s going on are the believers — and the president .
There is no fact-check that can dissuade them , no circumstance that would drive them away from the movement .
And while some Republicans have begun to speak out against the conspiracy theory , it ’ s far too late , because the person at the center of it is winking and nodding along .
Correction : A photo caption previously misidentified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
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Followers of the conspiracy theory QAnon believe a lot of things: There’s never been chaos in Donald Trump’s White House. The stories are just cover to let Trump and, previously, special counsel Robert Mueller do their work to expose thousands of pedophiles hidden in plain sight — including Hillary Clinton ... and Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, and Tom Hanks, and Chrissy Teigen. They’ll soon be under arrest, or perhaps they are already on their way to Guantanamo Bay. Their crimes? Torturing and murdering children and then harvesting a chemical from their blood.
It’s an all-encompassing conspiracy theory that has one overarching — and, if you’re a Trump supporter, hopeful — message: Trump is in complete control. Of everything. And against true evil, he is standing up for all that is good and right.
QAnon swept social media over the past three years, pushed by some of the far right’s biggest voices, including Alex Jones and Sean Hannity. 20 current congressional candidates have expressed support for QAnon, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, the leading candidate in the race for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District seat. She said in 2017 that QAnon was “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out.”
And on August 19, the person at the center of the “storm,” a term of art among QAnon followers, seemingly endorsed it, telling the White House press corps, “I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate.”
Trump goes all in on Q pic.twitter.com/uzwbXmw9du — Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) August 19, 2020
Conspiracy theorists of all varieties tend to embrace them as a means to create order out of chaos, or to make sense of events that don’t make sense. Unfortunately, researchers have found that fact-based arguments against conspiracy theorists only serve to reinforce them in the minds of believers. That’s what makes QAnon or Sandy Hook trutherism or any other conspiracy theory so difficult to combat. Conspiracy theories aren’t based on facts; conspiracy theorists aren’t receptive to them, either.
So if the Trump administration has been enmeshed in confusion and chaos, QAnon is the conspiratorial response: Everything is fine. As a popular saying among Q adherents proclaims, believers must only “trust the plan.”
“God bless fellow patriots”
The beginnings of “the Storm” lie with Donald Trump himself.
On October 5, 2017, during a photo opportunity held before a military dinner, Trump said that the dinner was “Maybe the calm before the storm.” When a reporter asked, “What storm, Mr. President?” Trump responded, “You’ll find out.”
TRUMP: "Maybe it's the calm before the storm."
...
REPORTER: "What storm Mr. President?"
TRUMP: "You'll find out." (via Satellite News) pic.twitter.com/bWMzGrDPNa — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 5, 2017
For non-conspiracy theorists, this was Trump-speak. He tends to just say things that have little to no relevance to anything either he or his administration will actually do — like that “maybe we should give” the Chinese style of one-man dictatorship “a shot.”
But for conspiracy theorists on Reddit, already primed to believe in code words and secrets and, well, conspiracies, his words took on new and apocalyptic meaning. As Travis View, a QAnon researcher and co-host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast, told PBS Newshour earlier in August, “the Storm” has become a predicted “great mass arrest event, in which over 100,000 people from the highest levels of power and entertainment are arrested and face a great day of reckoning.”
When Republican congressional candidate and QAnon follower Angela Stanton King — who is running to replace the late Rep. John Lewis — was retweeted by President Trump on August 6, she tweeted, “THE STORM IS HERE.”
THE STORM IS HERE — Angela Stanton King (@theangiestanton) August 6, 2020
The Texas Republican Party is now even selling “We Are the Storm” merchandise.
The first post from an anonymous user claiming to be a high-level government informant came on October 28, on the 4chan message board /pol/. The user was nicknamed “Q” after Q-level security clearance, the Energy Department equivalent of “Top Secret.” (“NG” refers to the National Guard.)
HRC extradition already in motion effective yesterday with several countries in case of cross border run. Passport approved to be flagged effective 10/30 @ 12:01am. Expect massive riots organized in defiance and others fleeing the US to occur. US M’s will conduct the operation while NG activated. Proof check: Locate a NG member and ask if activated for duty 10/30 across most major cities.
A few hours later, Q posted again, adding coded phrases that /pol/ users would interpret and argue over for months. In short, he or she appeared to state that Hillary Clinton had been “detained” by authorities and that Trump knew that “criminal rogue elements,” including Clinton, had to be arrested, while referencing billionaire philanthropist George Soros, himself the subject of a number of conspiracy theories.
These postings were thrilling for people steeped in far-right conspiracy theory lore — from the very real Operation Mockingbird, a CIA effort to blackmail journalists and give out false information to share propaganda, to the wild theory that Huma Abedin, a former Hillary Clinton staffer and ex-wife of Anthony Weiner, was secretly working for the Muslim Brotherhood. (She wasn’t.)
Even the name Q seemed to imply that this person knew things others didn’t. The rapidly expanding group of people who follow Q’s postings — and believe them — became known as QAnon.
Q occasionally tried to offer “proof” that they had real intel. (They posted images that redditors believed confirmed Q was on Air Force One, and thus had real information from the president.) Some followers even believe that Trump is Q — though others think it’s John F. Kennedy Jr., who they believe faked his 1999 death. When Trump spoke at Mount Rushmore this past Fourth of July, some QAnon believers were convinced that the occasion would mark JFK Jr.’s return.
Q offered real hope to Trump supporters: Everything is fine, Trump has everything under control, and everyone who stands in his way will soon be sent to prison. Literally.
In a posting on November 1, 2017, Q said that on November 3 and 4, John Podesta, chair of Clinton’s 2016 campaign, would be arrested, military control would take hold, and “public riots would be organized in serious numbers to prevent the arrest and capture of more senior public officials”:
My fellow Americans, over the course of the next several days you will undoubtedly realize that we are taking back our great country (the land of the free) from the evil tyrants that wish to do us harm and destroy the last remaining refuge of shining light. On POTUS’ order, we have initiated certain fail-safes that shall safeguard the public from the primary fallout which is slated to occur 11.3 upon the arrest announcement of Mr. Podesta (actionable 11.4). ... We will be initiating the Emergency Broadcast System (EMS) during this time in an effort to provide a direct message (avoiding the fake news) to all citizens. Organizations and/or people that wish to do us harm during this time will be met with swift fury – certain laws have been pre-lifted to provide our great military the necessary authority to handle and conduct these operations (at home and abroad).
Obviously, none of this happened. There were no public riots or mass arrests or the use of emergency broadcasts. (In fact, the Emergency Broadcast System went out of service in 1997, replaced by the Emergency Alert System.)
The overwhelming majority of Q’s assertions have been hilariously untrue: that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was placed in power by the CIA, that Seth Rich was murdered by MS13 under orders from former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (a viewpoint spread by congressional candidate Greene), that many prominent Democrats are currently wearing ankle monitors because they are secretly under arrest.
And really, QAnon’s base assertion — that Trump is in control of everything — was an inherently strange one to make when the Trump administration did actually control the entire federal government at the time the conspiracy theory seemingly began.
But that didn’t stop QAnon from percolating, first moving from 4chan to 8chan (4chan’s weirder equivalent), and then pushing outward on the internet, to Twitter and YouTube and Instagram and elsewhere, with believers making “explainer” videos about QAnon that get millions of views. And as it did, QAnon became about far more than specific predictions of dire consequences for Nancy Pelosi or assorted celebrities. And that has made it far easier to spread.
QAnon is now about everything — and it’s in the real world
QAnon is now an all-encompassing conspiracy theory, one with dozens of offshoots and side plots. QAnon adherents helped spread the conspiratorial documentary “Plandemic” online, and anti-mask conspiracy theories have been popular among QAnon fans on Instagram who argue that masks are helping child traffickers get away with their crimes.
One acolyte might assert that Bill and Hillary Clinton have been executed; another might argue that actor Tom Hanks is a pedophile and “would be the first big name unsealed indictment,” arrested for his alleged involvement in satanic pedophilic rituals, because Q used the word “big” in several posts and Tom Hanks starred in the 1988 film Big.
It’s those accusations of pedophilia, baselessly aimed at celebrities, companies, and politicians, that are at the very center of QAnon. Thousands of QAnon acolytes have taken over hashtags like #SaveTheChildren and bombarded hotlines intended for victims of human trafficking, attempting to divert attention from real victims of predation and abuse to the elites who are supposedly heading up cabals of pedophiles. And they believe that Trump is taking real action against these alleged criminals, crediting him for a purported increase in arrests of sex traffickers.
For the record, there was not an “unprecedented” increase in sex trafficking arrests back in 2018, there isn’t one taking place now, and arrests are a terrible metric for determining the success of anti-sex trafficking efforts.
But that hasn’t stopped some of the biggest proponents of QAnon from arguing that not only are celebrities taking part in Satanic pedophilic rituals, they are doing so to obtain the chemical adrenochrome, which they believe famous actors and celebrities harvest from the pituitary glands of children in order to maintain their youthful appearances. That specific conspiracy theory has gained traction, as Wired’s Brian Friedberg wrote in July of 2020:
A favorite topic of interconnected QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy communities, so-called “adrenochrome harvesting” long predates these groups. It has, however, resurrected during the Covid-19 pandemic. Google Trends shows significant spikes in searches for adrenochrome in March and June of 2020. It’s prevalent on TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram. Reddit removed a dedicated adrenochrome subreddit on July 30. On Friday, July 31, conspiracy theorists plan to hold the first “Child Lives Matter” protest in Hollywood to “expose” child trafficking, advertising the event with references to #adrenochrome.
For the record, there is no evidence that adrenochrome — a chemical largely made famous not by scientists, but by Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — does anything of note (Thompson even told the director of the film adaptation of his book that he made up the chemical’s effects.) But of course, that didn’t stop conspiracy theorists.
Adrenochrome conspiracy theories even made their way to a December 2018 House Judiciary Committee hearing with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, when Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) asked Pichai about how YouTube’s algorithm was pushing a conspiracy theory known as “Frazzledrip,” which argues the following: Hillary Clinton and former Clinton aide Huma Abedin were filmed ripping off a child’s face and wearing it as a mask before drinking the child’s blood in a satanic ritual sacrifice in order to obtain adrenochrome, and that video was then found on the hard drive of Abedin’s former husband, Anthony Weiner, under the code name “Frazzledrip.” (Absolutely none of this is true.)
And during the Covid-19 pandemic, QAnon adherents have come to believe that celebrities looking tired or acting strangely on Instagram was the result not of the same shutdown millions of Americans were experiencing, but of losing access to the chemical.
There’s a reason for the focus on pedophilia in QAnon: As Slate’s Christina Cauterucci wrote in July 2018, accusations of pedophilia are the easiest and most effective way to tarnish someone’s reputation with no proof necessary, as pedophilia is universally considered a horrific and horrendous affront.
And since perhaps the only thing even more horrendous is the murder of children, it’s no wonder, then, that one of the main proponents of QAnon posted on YouTube that Americans would be forced to comprehend “films of innocent children pleading for their lives while people are butchering them” once “the Storm” came to pass. QAnon isn’t about protecting Trump, in their view. It’s about saving children from rape and murder — and who could oppose that?
As Marc-André Argentino, a doctoral student at Concordia University who studies QAnon, told the New York Times, “Everyone agrees that child trafficking is very bad, and the argument QAnon makes is, ‘If you’re against us talking about this, you’re in favor of child trafficking.’” And with real-life wealthy sex predators like Jeffrey Epstein seemingly given cover by powerful people of all political stripes, a movement focused on unmasking them and bringing them to justice seems deeply appealing.
But the open-source nature of QAnon, where Q posts something for thousands of other people to interpret as they see fit, means other conspiracy theories fit neatly within QAnon — like ones about false flag shootings, Jewish bankers controlling the world, or the Illuminati. As the Daily Beast’s Will Sommer wrote in 2019:
While the Storm is at the center of the QAnon narrative, it’s also flexible enough to fold in just anything that makes the news. Q is fond of hinting that each mass shooting is a false-flag attack organized by the cabal, and he used a blurry webcam picture of a flash of light near the Puget Sound to claim that the deep state had tried to shoot down Trump’s plane.
One example: When NBC’s Ben Collins went on the Today show in 2018 to attempt to explain QAnon, one poster alleged that his script had been “written by Jacob Rothschild.” The Rothschild family has been the center of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for centuries, and for the record, Jacob Rothschild is 84 years old, lives in England, and is not writing “scripts” for the Today show.
saw this live about an hour ago..total hit job..completely biased and clearly a script written by Jacob Rothschild himself..@oneunderscore__ is responsible..but he does what Jacob wants..they really don’t have much ammunition left..getting closer to MASS ARRESTS #PEDOVORES #QAnon https://t.co/qf0P4kjUQn — #ARRESTPODESTA (@ARRESTPODESTA) August 1, 2018
The open source nature of the conspiracy theory also makes it easier to sell to newcomers, interested in fighting human trafficking or child abuse and with YouTube algorithms and Facebook groups all too willing to drive them down the rabbit hole of conspiracy.
“I can’t really spend any time with my mother because all she’ll want to talk about is Q”
Beginning in early 2018, QAnon adherents made their way to the world outside the internet, marching in Washington and demanding the release of secret memos that would expose the truth of QAnon and herald “the Storm.” In 2018, one man, Matthew Wright, took a rifle and a handgun and barricaded himself in his car on the Hoover Dam, holding a sign reading “RELEASE THE OIG MEMO,” referring to that supposed second report.
The man arrested was Matthew P. Wright, age 30 of Henderson, NV. — JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) June 16, 2018
Since then, there have been dozens of instances of people arrested in QAnon-related plots: the Denver woman who allegedly tried to kidnap her child from a foster care facility with the help of other QAnon believers; the Texas woman who believed that Trump was “literally taking down the cabal and the pedophile ring” who was arrested for ramming her car into other vehicles, intending to rescue children she believed were being trafficked; the murder suspect who told his lawyers he was trying to help Trump and stop the “deep state” by killing a high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family.
A QAnon supporter who planned to attack Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was arrested in May 2020, a month after a man with QAnon ties was arrested for intentionally derailing a train with the intention of aiming it at a hospital ship in San Pedro, California.
Many of these people were and are experiencing issues with existing mental illnesses. Rein Lively, a former QAnon acolyte who was captured in a viral video attacking a display of face masks at Target in July 2020, told Ben Collins, the NBC reporter, that she was living with bipolar disorder, and after weeks of following QAnon related groups on Facebook and Instagram, came to believe that she was part of the “Great Awakening,” and had to act in order to help Trump and save the world.
One woman whose mother has become deeply enmeshed in QAnon told Vice in 2019 that her mother deals with mental health issues, and that the conspiracy theory has made them worse. “She had a hard time anyway dealing with the real world, and now the world is so much worse for her because of all the horrible things the cult deals with: devil worship, sex trafficking, children being tortured and eaten or used as sex slaves.”
She added, “I can’t really spend any time with my mother because all she’ll want to talk about is Q, and I refuse.” And she’s not alone — there are dozens of Reddit threads and posts across the internet from people struggling with how to reach loved ones who have become enamored of QAnon.
And the coronavirus pandemic has only increased QAnon’s reach as more people do more online than ever before. As Axios reporters Stef W. Kight and Sara Fischer noted, Google search interest in QAnon increased 10 fold from January to July, and the use of the hashtag has increased as well.
And despite efforts by Facebook, Twitter, and other social media giants to stop the spread of QAnon content, Trump and members of his family have furthered the conspiracy theory, retweeting and sharing QAnon-related content hundreds of times. Eric Trump even shared a “Q” message on Instagram, using the popular QAnon hashtag #WWG1WGA, which stands for “Where We Go One, We Go All.” (He later deleted it.)
The president’s middle son, a main campaign surrogate, posting a QAnon message on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/bT11puXuDs — Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 20, 2020
What Trump knows about QAnon is that it is about how great Trump is
It’s worth noting that there is no indication that Trump, the epicenter of this entire conspiracy theory, has any idea what QAnon actually asserts — that Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, and George W. Bush are part of an elite pedophile ring, hell-bent on consuming the blood of children.
When questioned during a press conference on Wednesday, Trump appeared to believe the conspiracy theory was focused on supporting his efforts to tamp down urban unrest, saying QAnon adherents are “people who don’t like seeing what is going on in places like Portland, and in places like Chicago and New York and other cities — and states. And I’ve heard these are people who love our country, and they just don’t like seeing it.”
When he was then asked, “What about the theory, this belief that you are secretly saving the world from this titanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals? Does that sound like something you are behind?” Trump responds:
I have not heard that. Is that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing? I mean, you know. If I can help save the world from problems, I am willing to do it. I’m willing to put myself out there. and we are actually! We are saving the world from a radical left philosophy that will destroy this country, and when this country is gone, the rest of the world would follow.
None of this indicates that he has any indication that he understands the basis of the conspiracy theory. Rather, it indicates that all he knows of the conspiracy theory is that it’s about how important and special he is. As HotAir.com’s Allahpundit wrote on Wednesday:
Trump is incapable psychologically of rejecting someone who idolizes him. His narcissistic understanding of morality is this simple: If you love him then you’re good, whatever your faults, and if you hate him then you’re bad, whatever your virtues. QAnoners love him. They think he’s quite literally saving the world, by the reporter’s own description.
The reporter did not note that the FBI labeled QAnon and other conspiracy theories as a domestic terror threat in 2019, nor did they mention the attacks and violence that have been credited to QAnon believers.
Conspiracy theories are hard to fight because they’re about what we want to believe
Other conspiracy theorists have attempted to throw cold water on QAnon, like this blogger who wrote that he too had been a believer but, after reviewing the evidence, concluded that he had “been tricked” by a LARPer (live-action role player) creating a fantastical story for their own entertainment. But true believers remain deeply committed. And with Trump’s seeming support, they have every reason to be.
Conspiracy theories like QAnon are “self-sealing” — meaning that evidence against them can become evidence of their validity in the minds of believers, according to Stephan Lewandowsky, a professor at the University of Bristol who studies conspiracy theories and conspiracists. Trying to disprove a conspiracy theory thus usually only serves to reinforce it.
“For example, if scientists are accused of creating a ‘hoax,’ such as climate change, but they are then exonerated by multiple enquiries, then a conspiracy theorist will not accept that as evidence of their innocence, but as evidence of a broad conspiracy (to create a world government or whatever) that involves the government, judiciary, Soros, and anyone else who once shared a supermarket checkout line with Al Gore in the 1970s,” Lewandowsky said.
And here’s the really important point: Conspiracy theories aren’t created by evidence, but by belief, or by the desire to believe, that there must be something more to the events that shape our lives, culture, and politics than accident or happenstance.
Where there is confusion, or even pain and tragedy, QAnon, or shootings termed “false flags,” or 9/11 trutherism brings some semblance of order and security. The 9/11 attacks were so horrific that they can’t possibly have happened without President George W. Bush being behind it somehow, orchestrating things behind the scenes. A mass shooting at an elementary school that killed so many small children is so terrible that it can’t possibly have really happened. And the Trump administration must only seem to be enmeshed in constant chaos.
As Lewandowsky told me:
Conspiracy theories often serve an ironic function of providing a sense of order in chaos. People would rather believe that there are evil masterminds out there that pull strings on cataclysmic events than accept the occurrence of random events. Conspiracy theories also serve to elevate events to be less banal: For example, it is easier to conceive of Princess Diana having been killed by some elaborate evil conspiracy than being the victim of a rather banal drunk-driving accident. So whenever there is a tragic or cataclysmic event, some people will find a conspiracy theory more acceptable than the—often—more uninteresting official account.
Let’s be clear: Most people have never heard of QAnon, or Q — and that includes most of Trump’s supporters. Those who have heard of it tend to rate it unfavorably. As detailed by the Washington Post in August, when asked to rate their feelings for QAnon on a 1-100 scale (1 being least positive, 100 being most positive), a sample group of Floridians rated it about a 21, with Democrats and Republicans rating it similarly.
But there are those who do believe in QAnon, who believe that Trump is a “light worker” trying to save the world from elite pedophiles. And as the Spectator’s Ben Sixsmith argued in May 2020, those followers have been egged on by a president who promised them vengeance against their enemies and never followed through, making QAnon a respite against reality:
The presidency of Donald Trump has added a radical edge to the QAnoners. This is not due to extremism in his administration’s actions — but because of their moderation. He egged on chants of ‘lock her up’, but Hillary Clinton is still on Twitter insulting his policies. He encouraged ‘build that wall’ but the wall does not exist. A truly radical administration would contain radical followers. The increasingly dramatic and esoteric fantasies of Trump’s militant fringe are an attempt to rationalize the mundane reality.
QAnon provides a soothing balm, telling believers that the only people who really know what’s going on are the believers — and the president. There is no fact-check that can dissuade them, no circumstance that would drive them away from the movement. And while some Republicans have begun to speak out against the conspiracy theory, it’s far too late, because the person at the center of it is winking and nodding along.
Correction: A photo caption previously misidentified the website 4chan as part of Reddit.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


vox--2020-08-20--Steve Bannon has been arrested on fraud charges

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and three other men were arrested Thursday morning and charged with defrauding donors to a crowdfunding campaign that promised to construct a border wall .
Bannon was arrested by US Postal Inspection Service agents while aboard a yacht off the coast of Westbrook , Connecticut , according to NBC .
The charges were filed by the US Attorney ’ s Office for the Southern District of New York .
Bannon pleaded not guilty on all charges Thursday afternoon , and was released on $ 5 million bond , secured by $ 1.75 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a GoFundMe campaign started in December 2018 that went viral among conservatives , eventually raising $ 25 million .
The campaign was started by veteran Brian Kolfage , and Bannon got involved when money started pouring in .
Kolfage and others involved in the fundraising effort repeatedly promised that “ 100 % ” of the money raised would be used to build a wall , and none would be paid to Kolfage himself or other board members .
Prosecutors allege they violated these promises , paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Kolfage .
“ While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage , the founder and public face of We Build the Wall , would not be paid a cent , the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage , which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle , ” Audrey Strauss , the acting US attorney for SDNY , said in a statement .
Other money , prosecutors allege , was paid to a nonprofit run by Bannon and spent for his personal use .
The news comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Two months ago , Attorney General Bill Barr tried to force out the US attorney for the office , Geoffrey Berman , and to replace him with someone outside the ordinary line of succession .
Berman professed to be deeply worried about what might happen to unspecified investigations SDNY was pursuing and initially refused to resign .
Only when Barr agreed to let Strauss — Berman ’ s trusted deputy — take over did Berman accept his firing .
It ’ s unclear whether this is one of the investigations Berman was so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , Bannon is now the newest name on a long list of top Trump advisers who have faced charges under Trump ’ s administration .
Trump supporters pledged millions to get the wall built .
Prosecutors say Bannon and others took hundreds of thousands for themselves .
Nearly two years into the Trump administration , there was relatively little progress on one of Trump ’ s central campaign promises : building a wall on the US-Mexico border .
And some of his supporters were frustrated , as they wondered why it couldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 , Brian Kolfage , an Iraq War veteran and triple amputee , came up with an unusual idea .
He set up a GoFundMe page asking Trump supporters to contribute money themselves to get the wall built .
The campaign , which pledged that “ 100 % of your donations ” would be given to the federal government for the wall , went massively viral on the right — $ 20 million in pledges poured in .
But GoFundMe had some concerns about all this .
How , exactly , was Kolfage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government ?
How would he make sure the government would use it for wall-building ?
So GoFundMe told Kolfage he needed to find a credible nonprofit organization to accept the money or else it would all be sent back to the donors .
This thing had gotten pretty big and there was a lot of money at stake , so Kolfage needed help .
Enter Steve Bannon .
The former head of Breitbart News , Bannon had been Trump ’ s campaign CEO in 2016 and served as White House chief adviser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration on bad terms , and his relationship with Trump only worsened after he was a major source for a sharply negative book about the president .
Still , Bannon ’ s pro-wall credentials were unimpeachable , and he had lately entered the nonprofit space .
So , working with venture capitalist Andrew Badolato , Bannon quickly “ took significant control of ” Kolfage ’ s GoFundMe campaign , prosecutors claim , “ including its finances , messaging , donor outreach , and general operations.
” Under the new plan they hatched , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given to the government — it would be given to a new nonprofit group called “ We the People Build the Wall ” which would pursue the private construction of a border wall .
Because of these changes , GoFundMe required them to contact the initial donors again and get them to confirm they wanted their donations used for this .
And while making this outreach , they promised donors that “ 100 % of funds raised ” would be used to build the wall , and that not “ even a penny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I ’ m taking nothing !
Zero , ” Kolfage wrote on social media .
He also added that the “ board won ’ t see any of that money ” and described the group as a “ volunteer organization.
” So , by late 2019 , they had successfully raised $ 25 million .
But prosecutors assert that these promises that Kolfage wouldn ’ t be paid were fraudulent .
“ Hundreds of thousands of dollars were siphoned out of We Build the Wall for the personal use and benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and Kolfage ’ s associate Timothy Shea .
These payments , they assert , were often made to outside groups and subsequently redirected to Kolfage .
Kolfage himself received more than $ 350,000 in donor funds , which he then used for ” home renovations , payments toward a boat , a luxury SUV , a golf cart , jewelry , cosmetic surgery , personal tax payments , and credit card debt , ” prosecutors allege .
A nonprofit started by Bannon , meanwhile , received $ 1 million from the wall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pay Kolfage , but a “ substantial portion ” of which was spent for Bannon ’ s personal use , prosecutors claim .
The allegations here are fairly straightforward claims of financial fraud — that Bannon and his associates made promises to wall-supporting donors and then betrayed those promises for personal gain .
But Bannon is just the latest addition to what ’ s now a remarkably long list of top Trump associates who have faced criminal charges during Trump ’ s administration .
The president ’ s campaign chair , longtime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ security adviser , deputy campaign manager , and a campaign foreign policy adviser all faced charges in the Mueller investigation .
( That would be Paul Manafort , Michael Cohen , Roger Stone , Michael Flynn , Rick Gates , and George Papadopoulos . )
Now Trump ’ s campaign CEO and White House chief strategist , Bannon , has been charged too , albeit in a separate matter .
The news is also noteworthy because the indictment was filed by the US Attorney ’ s Office for the Southern District of New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some tumult earlier this summer .
In June , Attorney General Barr announced that US Attorney Geoffrey Berman would be “ stepping down ” from SDNY .
He would be replaced temporarily by the US attorney for New Jersey , Craig Carpenito , while another person , Jay Clayton , was awaiting Senate confirmation to hold the position .
All this was highly unusual , in part because Berman had not in fact agreed to resign ( which he soon made clear in a public statement ) , and in part because Barr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ succeed Berman — Berman ’ s deputy , Audrey Strauss — to slot in a handpicked appointee on an acting basis .
The next day , Barr had Berman officially fired , but he made an important concession .
Strauss would be allowed to succeed Berman on an acting basis , after all .
During and after all this unfolded , Berman repeatedly implied that he was concerned about the effect Barr ’ s personnel changes would have on “ investigations ” and “ important cases ” that SDNY was pursuing , though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the indictment of Trump ’ s former campaign CEO does indeed seem to have proceeded unimpeded .
Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions , we weren ’ t sure how it would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is both lovely and surprising : Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis , racial justice protests , a recession , and a presidential election .
But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires .
Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from @ @ @ @ @ @

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and three other men were arrested Thursday morning and charged with defrauding donors to a crowdfunding campaign that promised to construct a border wall.
Bannon was arrested by US Postal Inspection Service agents while aboard a yacht off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut, according to NBC. The charges were filed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Bannon pleaded not guilty on all charges Thursday afternoon, and was released on $5 million bond, secured by $1.75 million in assets.
The charges relate to a GoFundMe campaign started in December 2018 that went viral among conservatives, eventually raising $25 million. The campaign was started by veteran Brian Kolfage, and Bannon got involved when money started pouring in.
Kolfage and others involved in the fundraising effort repeatedly promised that “100%” of the money raised would be used to build a wall, and none would be paid to Kolfage himself or other board members. Prosecutors allege they violated these promises, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to outside groups or companies that were then steered to Kolfage.
“While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle,” Audrey Strauss, the acting US attorney for SDNY, said in a statement. Other money, prosecutors allege, was paid to a nonprofit run by Bannon and spent for his personal use.
The news comes at an interesting time for SDNY. Two months ago, Attorney General Bill Barr tried to force out the US attorney for the office, Geoffrey Berman, and to replace him with someone outside the ordinary line of succession. Berman professed to be deeply worried about what might happen to unspecified investigations SDNY was pursuing and initially refused to resign. Only when Barr agreed to let Strauss — Berman’s trusted deputy — take over did Berman accept his firing.
It’s unclear whether this is one of the investigations Berman was so set on protecting. But whatever the case, Bannon is now the newest name on a long list of top Trump advisers who have faced charges under Trump’s administration.
Trump supporters pledged millions to get the wall built. Prosecutors say Bannon and others took hundreds of thousands for themselves.
Nearly two years into the Trump administration, there was relatively little progress on one of Trump’s central campaign promises: building a wall on the US-Mexico border. And some of his supporters were frustrated, as they wondered why it couldn’t happen.
So in December 2018, Brian Kolfage, an Iraq War veteran and triple amputee, came up with an unusual idea. He set up a GoFundMe page asking Trump supporters to contribute money themselves to get the wall built. The campaign, which pledged that “100% of your donations” would be given to the federal government for the wall, went massively viral on the right — $20 million in pledges poured in.
But GoFundMe had some concerns about all this. How, exactly, was Kolfage going to give all this money to the government? How would he make sure the government would use it for wall-building? So GoFundMe told Kolfage he needed to find a credible nonprofit organization to accept the money or else it would all be sent back to the donors.
This thing had gotten pretty big and there was a lot of money at stake, so Kolfage needed help. Enter Steve Bannon. The former head of Breitbart News, Bannon had been Trump’s campaign CEO in 2016 and served as White House chief adviser in 2017. He eventually exited the administration on bad terms, and his relationship with Trump only worsened after he was a major source for a sharply negative book about the president. Still, Bannon’s pro-wall credentials were unimpeachable, and he had lately entered the nonprofit space.
So, working with venture capitalist Andrew Badolato, Bannon quickly “took significant control of” Kolfage’s GoFundMe campaign, prosecutors claim, “including its finances, messaging, donor outreach, and general operations.”
Under the new plan they hatched, the money raised would no longer be given to the government — it would be given to a new nonprofit group called “We the People Build the Wall” which would pursue the private construction of a border wall.
Because of these changes, GoFundMe required them to contact the initial donors again and get them to confirm they wanted their donations used for this. And while making this outreach, they promised donors that “100% of funds raised” would be used to build the wall, and that not “even a penny” would be used to pay Kolfage. “I’m taking nothing! Zero,” Kolfage wrote on social media. He also added that the “board won’t see any of that money” and described the group as a “volunteer organization.” So, by late 2019, they had successfully raised $25 million.
But prosecutors assert that these promises that Kolfage wouldn’t be paid were fraudulent. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars were siphoned out of We Build the Wall for the personal use and benefit of Kolfage, Bannon, Badolato,” and Kolfage’s associate Timothy Shea. These payments, they assert, were often made to outside groups and subsequently redirected to Kolfage.
Kolfage himself received more than $350,000 in donor funds, which he then used for ”home renovations, payments toward a boat, a luxury SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments, and credit card debt,” prosecutors allege.
A nonprofit started by Bannon, meanwhile, received $1 million from the wall campaign — some of which was used to pay Kolfage, but a “substantial portion” of which was spent for Bannon’s personal use, prosecutors claim.
The bigger picture
The allegations here are fairly straightforward claims of financial fraud — that Bannon and his associates made promises to wall-supporting donors and then betrayed those promises for personal gain.
But Bannon is just the latest addition to what’s now a remarkably long list of top Trump associates who have faced criminal charges during Trump’s administration.
The president’s campaign chair, longtime lawyer, longtime political guru, national security adviser, deputy campaign manager, and a campaign foreign policy adviser all faced charges in the Mueller investigation. (That would be Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, and George Papadopoulos.) Now Trump’s campaign CEO and White House chief strategist, Bannon, has been charged too, albeit in a separate matter.
The news is also noteworthy because the indictment was filed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which was the site of some tumult earlier this summer.
In June, Attorney General Barr announced that US Attorney Geoffrey Berman would be “stepping down” from SDNY. He would be replaced temporarily by the US attorney for New Jersey, Craig Carpenito, while another person, Jay Clayton, was awaiting Senate confirmation to hold the position.
All this was highly unusual, in part because Berman had not in fact agreed to resign (which he soon made clear in a public statement), and in part because Barr was circumventing the person who would ordinarily succeed Berman — Berman’s deputy, Audrey Strauss — to slot in a handpicked appointee on an acting basis.
The next day, Barr had Berman officially fired, but he made an important concession. Strauss would be allowed to succeed Berman on an acting basis, after all.
During and after all this unfolded, Berman repeatedly implied that he was concerned about the effect Barr’s personnel changes would have on “investigations” and “important cases” that SDNY was pursuing, though he didn’t specify which. But the indictment of Trump’s former campaign CEO does indeed seem to have proceeded unimpeded.
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.


The great rebuild

The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy , a massive policy failure , and an existential threat to the livelihood and health of millions of Americans — with the pain disproportionality falling on Black Americans .
With more than 5 million cases worldwide , 165,000 Americans dead , more than 16 million US jobs eliminated , and schools and businesses shuttered , half measures won ’ t cut it .
It didn ’ t have to be this way .
However , there is still much we can do to recover — and not just recover , but rebuild .
Tapping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economists , and policymakers , The Great Rebuild imagines how we could marshal the power of the federal government and the potential of its citizens to fight back against the catastrophic effects of Covid-19 , and in the process create a system steeped in fairness , inclusion , and sustainability .
The Great Rebuild is made possible thanks to support from Omidyar Network , a social impact venture that works to reimagine critical systems and the ideas that govern them , and to build more inclusive and equitable societies .
All Great Rebuild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our journalists .
What it would take to end child poverty in America Rep. Barbara Lee on why rebuilding the economy should mean investing in our kids .
What would Keynes do ?
What the 20th century ’ s most influential economist can teach us about rebuilding the US economy .
The failed dream of the American small business Small businesses were once pillars of communities , but economic and systemic forces left many fighting for survival .
Then came the pandemic .

The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy, a massive policy failure, and an existential threat to the livelihood and health of millions of Americans — with the pain disproportionality falling on Black Americans.
A problem this big demands a bold solution.
With more than 30 million cases worldwide, more than 200,000 Americans dead, millions of US jobs eliminated, and schools and businesses shuttered, half measures won’t cut it. It didn’t have to be this way. However, there is still much we can do to recover — and not just recover, but rebuild.
Tapping the voices of prominent American thinkers, economists, and policymakers, The Great Rebuild imagines how we could marshal the power of the federal government and the potential of its citizens to fight back against the catastrophic effects of Covid-19, and in the process create a system steeped in fairness, inclusion, and sustainability.
The Great Rebuild is made possible thanks to support from Omidyar Network, a social impact venture that works to reimagine critical systems and the ideas that govern them, and to build more inclusive and equitable societies. All Great Rebuild coverage is editorially independent and produced by our journalists.
A blueprint exists for a more inclusive, successful nation that invests in the well-being of its citizens. We only have to look to the past.
by Zachary D. Carter
The problem with our social safety net is clear. The solution is, too.
by Emily Stewart
We have more than enough work to go around for the next generation if we address one of our nation’s biggest problems: infrastructure.
by Andrew Yang
It’s time to ask why we continue to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on police misconduct lawsuits and billions more on policing that yields poor outcomes.
by Sean Collins
A massive boom in new construction would create countless jobs and help finally end the legacy of racist housing policies.
by Matthew Yglesias
We must bail out the industry that allows millions of parents to work.
by Anna North
The former presidential candidate discusses universal basic income, artificial intelligence, and his next job in politics.
by Ezra Klein
The US has the technology to decarbonize by 2035. Here’s a plan to do it.
By Ezra Klein
Rep. Barbara Lee on why rebuilding the economy should mean investing in our kids.
By Ezra Klein
What the 20th century’s most influential economist can teach us about rebuilding the US economy.
By Ezra Klein
Small businesses were once pillars of communities, but economic and systemic forces left many fighting for survival. Then came the pandemic.
By Laura Entis
Party of One is a collaborative creative studio founded by Melissa Deckert and Nicole Licht, based in Brooklyn, New York. Through combined experience in fine arts and traditional design, Party of One creates compelling visuals with an emphasis on unique and often handcrafted prop design, styling, and sets.


vox--2020-08-20--The Democratic National Convention’s speaker lineup and how to watch

The Democratic National Convention has gone fully virtual this year .
Rather than days of full programming , the convention has been condensed into two hours of televised speeches a day spread out from Monday , August 17 , to Thursday , August 20 .
Former Vice President Joe Biden is set to accept his party ’ s nomination on Thursday night from his home in Delaware , rather than the original planned location of Milwaukee , Wisconsin .
Fears about the Covid-19 outbreak and the potential to spread the virus even with a severely reduced crowd caused the Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convention .
Starting at 9 Eastern each night , the Democratic convention has been broadcast on all major television networks , social media sites like Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube , and streaming services such as Apple TV and Roku .
The convention will also be streamed live from the DNC ’ s website .
In its first three nights , the DNC lineup featured big Democratic names including former first lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama , Sen. Bernie Sanders , Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , and Sens .
Amy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the convention also featured former Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov .
John Kasich , who delivered an appeal to his fellow Republicans to support Biden for president .
The week will culminate with Biden accepting his nomination to be president on Thursday , one day after Sen. Kamala Harris accepted her vice presidential nomination .
The lineup has not been without controversy .
Ocasio-Cortez was given just one minute of speaking time on Tuesday ; she served as one of the officials symbolically nominating Sanders , who crossed the delegate threshold for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticized the decision — Ocasio-Cortez is one of the highest-profile members of the Democratic Party and among its brightest young stars , and she is a compelling speaker .
But Politico reported moderate Democrats worried giving her too high a profile would allow Republicans to paint Biden as a “ vessel ” of the left .
The New York Congress member responded by tweeting out a poem by Benjamin E. Mays , “ I have only just a minute , ” which the late Rep. Elijah Cummings recited in his first speech to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her limited time to make a compact case for sweeping progressive reforms .
There has also been outcry that former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro , the only Latino candidate in the 2020 primary field , was not invited to deliver an address during the event .
Initially , former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was left off the list of speakers , but the entrepreneur said he has since been added — Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been given a slot as well .
Both are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proceedings , some progressives have expressed dismay at the DNC ’ s apparent prioritization of figures like Bloomberg and Kasich over Castro and Ocasio-Cortez .
But the show goes on , with these bigger names giving speeches Monday through Thursday , alongside American business owners , teachers , factory workers , and front-line health care workers .
Here ’ s the lineup of speakers at this year ’ s Democratic National Convention ( which is still subject to change ) .
There will be a slate of speakers each night , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governors , and US representatives .
The themes for each day ( and links to our coverage ) : The fourth and final night of the 2020 convention has the theme of “ America ’ s Promise , ” and will feature former Vice President Joe Biden officially accepting the nomination for president .
Full run-of-show is listed below , with descriptions from the Democratic National Convention ’ s media guidance .
• “ This Time Next Year : ” A short presentation from a diverse group of Americans on how they imagine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidency • A tribute to John Lewis directed by Dawn Porter , director of the film John Lewis : Good Trouble • Performance by John Legend , American singer-songwriter , and Common , American rapper , actor , and writer • Remarks by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson • “ You Built America ” : A conversation between Biden and a panel of union workers from around the US • Remarks by former Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy • “ United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s candidacy from his Democratic primary rivals , including Sen. Cory Booker ( D-NJ ) , former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg , Sen. Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN ) , former Rep. Beto O ’ Rourke ( D-TX ) , Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) , Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-MA ) , and businessman Andrew Yang • Remarks by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg • A short film on the Biden family , focused on Biden ’ s grandchildren • Remarks by Biden ’ s daughter and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Why the DNC is virtual this year In previous years , the national party convention would be a moment for unity and celebration .
But amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that ’ s claimed more than 163,000 American lives and counting , Democrats are hoping their virtual convention sends a larger message about how their nominee plans to govern in a time of national crisis .
With an absence of federal leadership from President Donald Trump , the Biden campaign and national Democrats are portraying themselves as the party of responsibility .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to how we should respond individually to this crisis , ” Biden said at a recent virtual fundraiser , speaking about the virtual convention .
“ From the start of the process , we ’ ve made it clear .
... Science matters.
” Democrats have known for months that the coronavirus meant the normal throng of thousands of cheering delegates was out of the question .
A recent public health order from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would have limited the convention ’ s in-person capacity to 250 people , but coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rise , and interstate travel comes with risk .
Even with stringent safety measures like mandatory masks and daily temperature checks already in place , some Democrats feared even the sparsest indoors convention could still potentially spread Covid-19 .
After Trump ’ s June rally in Tulsa , Oklahoma , coronavirus cases in that city surged , and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of Covid-19 .
Democrats didn ’ t want to risk any new cases emerging from their national convention .
“ From the very beginning of this pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the American people first , ” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement .
“ We followed the science , listened to doctors and public health experts , and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives .
That ’ s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves .
And that ’ s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.
” Democrats wanted one message to dominate their convention : Where Trump has failed , Biden will lead America out of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one thing : They care about being safe , ” former Virginia Gov .
Terry McAuliffe told Vox .
“ It ’ s a totally different dynamic ; we have one message to come out of that convention.
” Will you become our 20,000th supporter ?
When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions , we weren ’ t sure how it would go .
Today , we ’ re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in .
The reason is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it , too .
We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy .
That ’ s never been more important than today , during a public health crisis , racial justice protests , a recession , and a presidential election .
But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive , and advertising alone won ’ t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires .
Your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but it will help keep Vox free for all .
Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

The Democratic National Convention has gone fully virtual this year.
Rather than days of full programming, the convention has been condensed into two hours of televised speeches a day spread out from Monday, August 17, to Thursday, August 20. Former Vice President Joe Biden is set to accept his party’s nomination on Thursday night from his home in Delaware, rather than the original planned location of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Fears about the Covid-19 outbreak and the potential to spread the virus even with a severely reduced crowd caused the Democratic National Committee to scrap its in-person Milwaukee convention.
Starting at 9 Eastern each night, the Democratic convention has been broadcast on all major television networks, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and streaming services such as Apple TV and Roku. The convention will also be streamed live from the DNC’s website.
In its first three nights, the DNC lineup featured big Democratic names including former first lady Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren. Monday, the convention also featured former Republican presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who delivered an appeal to his fellow Republicans to support Biden for president. The week will culminate with Biden accepting his nomination to be president on Thursday, one day after Sen. Kamala Harris accepted her vice presidential nomination.
The lineup has not been without controversy. Ocasio-Cortez was given just one minute of speaking time on Tuesday; she served as one of the officials symbolically nominating Sanders, who crossed the delegate threshold for nomination to the ticket.
Many progressives criticized the decision — Ocasio-Cortez is one of the highest-profile members of the Democratic Party and among its brightest young stars, and she is a compelling speaker. But Politico reported moderate Democrats worried giving her too high a profile would allow Republicans to paint Biden as a “vessel” of the left.
The New York Congress member responded by tweeting out a poem by Benjamin E. Mays, “I have only just a minute,” which the late Rep. Elijah Cummings recited in his first speech to Congress in 1996, and ultimately used her limited time to make a compact case for sweeping progressive reforms.
“I only have a minute.
Sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, I did not choose it,
But I know that I must use it.
Give account if I abuse it.
Suffer, if I lose it.
Only a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.”
- Dr. Benjamin E. Mays
(and recited by Elijah Cummings) https://t.co/ul9CE7NriV — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 12, 2020
There has also been outcry that former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, the only Latino candidate in the 2020 primary field, was not invited to deliver an address during the event. Initially, former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang was left off the list of speakers, but the entrepreneur said he has since been added — Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been given a slot as well. Both are expected to speak Thursday evening. Throughout the proceedings, some progressives have expressed dismay at the DNC’s apparent prioritization of figures like Bloomberg and Kasich over Castro and Ocasio-Cortez.
But the show goes on, with these bigger names giving speeches Monday through Thursday, alongside American business owners, teachers, factory workers, and front-line health care workers.
Here’s the lineup of speakers at this year’s Democratic National Convention (which is still subject to change).
The DNC speaker schedule and lineup
There will be a slate of speakers each night, including former presidents and sitting US senators, governors, and US representatives. The themes for each day (and links to our coverage):
Here’s the list of Thursday night’s speakers:
The fourth and final night of the 2020 convention has the theme of “America’s Promise,” and will feature former Vice President Joe Biden officially accepting the nomination for president. Full run-of-show is listed below, with descriptions from the Democratic National Convention’s media guidance.
“This Time Next Year:” A short presentation from a diverse group of Americans on how they imagine their lives one year into a Biden presidency
Remarks by Andrew Yang, American businessman
Introduction by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
Pledge of Allegiance, led by Rep. Cedric Richmond Jr. (D-LA)
National anthem, performed by the Chicks
Invocation by Sister Simone Campbell, American Roman Catholic religious sister
Remarks by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE)
Remarks by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
A tribute to John Lewis directed by Dawn Porter, director of the film John Lewis: Good Trouble
Performance by John Legend, American singer-songwriter, and Common, American rapper, actor, and writer
Remarks by Jon Meacham, American writer and author
Remarks by Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM)
Remarks by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
Remarks by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
“You Built America”: A conversation between Biden and a panel of union workers from around the US
Remarks by former Surgeon General of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy
Remarks by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
A presentation on Biden’s plan for supporting military families
Remarks by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
A video tribute to Biden’s late son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden
Remarks by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
“United We Stand:” A presentation on Biden’s candidacy from his Democratic primary rivals, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and businessman Andrew Yang
Remarks by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
A short film on the Biden family, focused on Biden’s grandchildren
Remarks by Biden’s daughter and son, Ashley Biden and Hunter Biden
A brief video biography of Biden
Remarks and acceptance speech by Joe Biden
Why the DNC is virtual this year
In previous years, the national party convention would be a moment for unity and celebration. But amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that’s claimed more than 163,000 American lives and counting, Democrats are hoping their virtual convention sends a larger message about how their nominee plans to govern in a time of national crisis.
With an absence of federal leadership from President Donald Trump, the Biden campaign and national Democrats are portraying themselves as the party of responsibility.
“I’ve wanted to set an example as to how we should respond individually to this crisis,” Biden said at a recent virtual fundraiser, speaking about the virtual convention. “From the start of the process, we’ve made it clear. ... Science matters.”
Democrats have known for months that the coronavirus meant the normal throng of thousands of cheering delegates was out of the question. A recent public health order from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would have limited the convention’s in-person capacity to 250 people, but coronavirus cases in Wisconsin are also still on the rise, and interstate travel comes with risk.
Even with stringent safety measures like mandatory masks and daily temperature checks already in place, some Democrats feared even the sparsest indoors convention could still potentially spread Covid-19. After Trump’s June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, coronavirus cases in that city surged, and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain died of Covid-19. Democrats didn’t want to risk any new cases emerging from their national convention.
“From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first,” DNC Chair Tom Perez said in a statement. “We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House.”
Democrats wanted one message to dominate their convention: Where Trump has failed, Biden will lead America out of its current crisis.
“People care about one thing: They care about being safe,” former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told Vox. “It’s a totally different dynamic; we have one message to come out of that convention.”
Will you become our 20,000th supporter? When the economy took a downturn in the spring and we started asking readers for financial contributions, we weren’t sure how it would go. Today, we’re humbled to say that nearly 20,000 people have chipped in. The reason is both lovely and surprising: Readers told us that they contribute both because they value explanation and because they value that other people can access it, too. We have always believed that explanatory journalism is vital for a functioning democracy. That’s never been more important than today, during a public health crisis, racial justice protests, a recession, and a presidential election. But our distinctive explanatory journalism is expensive, and advertising alone won’t let us keep creating it at the quality and volume this moment requires. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will help keep Vox free for all. Contribute today from as little as $3.