For the last several weeks, I've really made
it a point not to talk much about Q and on
and what it is.
And at this point, I think I have to because
it is actually starting to become something
that is of interest to my audience and and
unfortunately maybe even relevant in some
broader sense.
So to talk to us about it today, we're going
to be speaking with Alex Kaplan, who's a senior
researcher at Media Matters, focuses on social
media misinformation, disinformation and online
extremism.
Great to have you on, Alex.
Thanks for having me on.
So, I mean, OK, I guess to start with it,
clearly this Q and on is substantial enough
that an organization like Media Matters is
paying attention.
You're tracking it.
You're researching it.
How do we establish how much of a thing this
is?
Yeah.
So I would say until recently it was hard
to get a sense of exact numbers for how many
supporters there were for of carrying on.
There were definitely signs that it was significant.
In the last few weeks, we've gotten some reporting
that has finally given a sense, maybe more
concrete numbers.
There was a report from NBC News that according
to a Facebook review of Q and on Facebook
groups, it found, I believe, at least three
million members of Q and on Facebook groups.
So, I mean, there could be overlap between
groups.
Some of the groups.
But I think that gives a sense that there
is a significant amount of people that are
sympathetic, subscribe to certain traffic
in this conspiracy theory online.
If someone does not know what the conspiracy
theory is, what are the kind of highlighted
bullet points of it?
Yep.
So it's an extremist conspiracy theory that
started in late twenty seventeen on a message
board site called 4Chan, which is known for
hosting anonymous white nationalist trolls.
Essentially, its premise is that there is
this anonymous entity called calling itself
Q claiming to have Q security clearance and
the government claiming to have this inside
scoop on this secret plot that President Trump
is involved in.
That actually originally involved special
counsel Robert Mueller to take down the deep
state, his perceived enemies, this pedophile
network, this global cabal of like pedophiles
that includes Democrats and that they'll be
basically walked into thrown in the Guantanamo
my court martial.
That that's kind of the premise of it.
And a move to an ever even more extremist
site message board site called Eight H.A.,
which has got shut down because it was tied
to white nationalist shooters, are much white
nationalist shooters and it's relaunch as
a site called Eikon.
So that's where it is now.
And that's basically its premise.
Some elements of this remind me of a blacklist
episode.
I think James Spader was involved in the direction
of that particular episode.
But in all seriousness.
So this is this is a pro Trump ideology that
that frames Trump as a sort of savior or white
knight for lack of a better term in the global
context.
Yes, it is a pro Trump conspiracy theory that
claims that he is going to what they call
like the storm.
This event, more like all the enemies or all
their perceived enemies, are going to be like
mass arrested and court martialed.
And yeah, I mean, the conspiracy theory supporters
traffic in pro Trump Narrative's pro Trump
contact.
The heart of the conspiracy theory, as you
said, is that Trump is the savior, the central
figure of this secret plot.
So this is not just online.
And this is maybe why we're now taking it
more seriously, which is that there are you'll
tell me the number.
But certainly more than 10 candidates for
Congress at the national level who are at
least to some degree affiliated with Q and
on.
Yep.
So over the course of my tracking, I have
come across at least seventy eight current
or former congressional candidates.
There's only eight that have at some level
expressed some kind of support for the conspiracy
theory Sadequee.
It doesn't quote former candidates, but candidates
that all ran at some point in twenty twenty
for Congress.
So because it's very easy to run in some kind
of nominal sense in terms of right now, in
terms of on the ballot in November, what would
the number be?
So at least 20 of those 78 have secured a
spot on the ballot in November.
Of those 20, 19 or.
And one is an independent.
It is possible that number will go up because
there are some primaries left to go.
And are these individuals?
Well, let's work backwards.
I mean, when Donald Trump in a press briefing.
I think it was last week, but it might have
actually been two weeks ago at this point,
really two weeks ago during the DNC was asked
about this.
He kind of played dumb, but also said it sounds
like they're saying I'm doing good things.
And of course, that's a really good way to
get Trump to say at least not negative things
about you.
To what degree has this administration commented
beyond that one event on cue?
So, again, as you said, Trump made a comment
or remarks making a point, saying positive
things about the conspiracy theory and its
supporters.
It you know, leading up to this, Trump himself
has amplified.
Q And on promoting accounts, by my count,
more than 200 times.
And there were other people in Trump's orbit
that have winked that amplified.
Q And on content is social media adviser Dance.
Corvino has winked at the conspiracy theory.
A few months ago I found out he posted or
posted an image on Facebook, thought they
had a Q in it and I was able to trace it back
to Q and on supporter that it posted on his
Facebook page.
His son, one of his sons, Eric Trump, posted
a Q and on graphic on Instagram, which he
then took down without any explanation.
A clear cue in our graphic eyes.
Former social media national security adviser
Michael Flynn in July posted a video of himself
taking an oath supporting Q and on an oath
that Q The entity behind Q and on had posted.
I believe it was a couple weeks before and
some of his campaign staff have gone on.
Q And on YouTube channel.
So there were connections.
Before this.
We're going to go to a brief break on the
podcast, but we'll continue our conversation
with Media Matters.
Alex Kaplan.
You'll find the full conversation on on our
YouTube channel,
