Supporters of QAnon, the right-wing conspiracy purporting that a Satanic, pedophilic cabal is plotting against former President Donald Trump, are confused. They woke up Wednesday morning convinced that Trump had one more trick up his sleeve to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president, that the inauguration would be interrupted by martial law, that a prophecy predicting Democrats would be arrested and executed en masse for child sex trafficking would finally come true. Obviously, the so-called Great Awakening never happened, and the true believers are unsure of what to do now.
The New York Times reports that Q forums are filled with dismayed and heartbroken followers, many of whom are finally realizing that they’ve been duped.
Some QAnon believers tried to rejigger their theories to accommodate a transfer of power to Mr. Biden. Several large QAnon groups discussed on Wednesday the possibility that they had been wrong about Mr. Biden, and that the incoming president was actually part of Mr. Trump’s effort to take down the global cabal.
“The more I think about it, I do think it’s very possible that Biden will be the one who pulls the trigger,” one account wrote in a QAnon channel on the messaging app Telegram.
Others expressed anger with QAnon influencers who had told believers to expect a dramatic culmination on Inauguration Day.
“A lot of YouTube journalists have just lost one hell of a lot of credibility,” wrote a commenter in one QAnon chat room.
[…]
“It’s over,” one QAnon chat room participant wrote, just after Mr. Biden’s swearing-in.
“Wake up,” another wrote. “We’ve been had.”
Well, that’s what happens when you get your news from conspiratorial “YouTube journalists” who wouldn’t recognize credibility if it smacked them across the face.
But really, they’re going through it.
From NBC News:
“Anyone else feeling beyond let down?” one top post on a popular QAnon forum read. “It’s like being a kid and seeing the big gift under the tree thinking it is exactly what you want only to open it and realize it was a lump of coal.”
One of the largest QAnon groups on Telegram closed comments to let everyone “take a breather,” after Biden’s inauguration. When it reopened after charges of censorship, thousands of users commented, expressing a range of reactions: confusion and realization that QAnon was in fact a hoax, as well as renewed commitment to the conspiracy theory, despite its unreliability.
Nothing is more galling, however, than seeing Ron Watkins—the man helped popularize Q in the first place—backtrack. Watkins posted a note to his more than 100,000 followers on the app Telegram, encouraging everyone to move on with their lives.
“We have a new president sworn in and it is our responsibility as citizens to respect the Constitution regardless of whether or not we agree with the specifics or details…” he wrote. “As we enter into the next administration please remember all the friends and happy memories we made together over the past few years.”
After treating QAnon like that cool summer camp you went to in middle school, he made sure to tease his upcoming project. Grifting to the very end!
Former Trump advisor and longtime white nationalist Stephen Miller is now on Twitter, and he’s already getting clowned. His one and only tweet thus far went live just before 3:30 p.m. PST and reads as follows: “Today, @POTUS pledged to be a president for all Americans. It’s unclear how all Americans are served by opening travel from terror hot spots, proposing a giant amnesty, or halting the installation of security barriers along the Southwest border.”
Nearly three hours later the tweet has been ratio’d to hell and back with over 15,200 replies and only 2,400 likes. Most replies are from people telling him to shut the ever-loving fuck up.
Shouldn’t this loser be looking for a new job instead of fucking around on Twitter?
- President Biden signed a shitton of executive orders already:
- Which is great because there’s a shitton to undo already. Here’s some bullshit Trump enacted before leaving the White House:
- Meanwhile, across the pond… what?
- Good for Greta Thunberg!
- Thanks, Rihanna:
- Sorry, I can’t stop watching this: