What’s Become of QAnon Since Trump’s Defeat?

Donald Trump’s presidency provided the bedrock for the fantastical U.S. conspiracy theory known as QAnon. That may help explain why QAnon adherents were well represented among the rioters who tried to stop the U.S. Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. But even with Trump out of office, QAnon soldiers on.

It’s a collection of groundless allegations built around the notion that Democratic politicians, abetted by celebrities, are Satan-worshipping pedophiles who traffic children for sexual purposes. Trump, according to the tale, took office in 2017 to battle and take down this cabal. QAnon shares roots with the so-called PizzaGate conspiracy theory that took hold during the 2016 presidential campaign. It held that top Democrats including Hillary Clinton, Trump’s presidential opponent, were involved in a child sex-trafficking ring operating out of a Washington pizza restaurant. One follower drove from North Carolina to Washington to “self-investigate” the theory and fired an assault rifle into a closet at the restaurant. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has designated QAnon a domestic terrorism threat.