https://www.newsweek.com-By Andrew Stanton
Above, a QAnon symbol is seen outside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. QAnon was given a boost after former President Donald Trump shared posts using its language on Truth Social early last week. Meanwhile, popular QAnon accounts are using partisan divisions to promote their conspiracy theory. Win McNamee/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump appeared to boost QAnon, the far-right conspiracy theory, by sharing social media posts related to the theory that has seen a resurgence amid heightened tensions between Trump and President Joe Biden.
QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory, and its followers believe that Trump, as president, would arrest and execute a “cabal” of satanic pedophiles, including many high-profile Democrats and celebrities. The theory has widely been discredited, and has not been backed up by any substantial evidence.
Early last week, Trump shared more than 50 posts on Truth Social, including dozens of “retruths” in a 24-hour timespan. Several posts he shared either originated from QAnon-related accounts, or posts that featured QAnon language.
The posts were perhaps the former president’s most direct embrace of the conspiracy theory to date. It comes as QAnon followers are using a partisan fracture between Biden and Trump to further promote their conspiracy theory after months of a quieter online presence.
One post Trump shared featured the text: “The deep state whispered to president Trump ‘You cannot withstand the storm.’ The President whispered back, ‘I am the storm.'” In QAnon lore, the “storm” refers to the event where Trump would order the arrest of child abusers, including high-profile Democrats—though multiple predictions as to when this baseless “storm” would arrive have been proven false.
In another post Trump appears to have since deleted, reported by Politico reporter Kyle Cheney, Trump appeared to share a link to a QAnon website from 2017.
“Under what article can the President impose MI take over investigations for the 3 letter agencies? What conditions must present itself? Why is this so VERY important? Who surrounds POTUS? They lost this very important power _ the one area of the govt not corrupt and directly serves POTUS,” the post read.
Trump is spending his morning on Truth Social directly posting 4chan and Q messages, a day after calling to be reinstated as president. He’s doing explicitly what he used to try to shade or use coded language for. pic.twitter.com/ksCMJnJ8KW
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 30, 2022
The conspiracy appears to be feeding off deepened tensions between Biden and Trump. While the two have long been political adversaries, Trump’s tweet storm, along with Biden’s Thursday speech in which he decried “MAGA Republicans” has seen partisan divides grow.
During his speech, the president said that although not all members of the GOP embrace the “extreme ideology” of MAGA Republicans, “there is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”
A QAnon Telegram channel with nearly 150,000 followers posted on Thursday after Biden’s speech that “THEY WANT POLITICAL WARS. THEY WANT YOU DIVIDED,” alongside “Q.”
On Saturday, another QAnon Telegram channel with nearly 300,000 followers predicted a “false flag” operation following Biden’s speech and the FBI‘s investigation into whether Trump improperly stored classified information at his Mar-a-Lago residence.
“1. Mar a Lago Raid 2. Biden’s Speech 3. Patriot Front Group Parading Around Looking Like Patriots,” the post reads. “Do you see a [false flag] event headed our way. The [deep state] is desperate.”
An account on Truth Social with 144,000 followers wrote following Trump’s Truth storm that “a day is coming where it won’t seem so idiotic to publicly approve of Q’s message.”
“It got dark and foggy but we never gave up hope because the Q proofs were unassailable and our faith was rock solid. We aren’t at the finish line yet but I know we have many victories to celebrate soon,” the post said.
Trump’s posts prompted calls for the removal of Truth Social from app stores. The group Citizens for Ethics tweeted: “Trump continues to deny the 2020 election results, repost QAnon statements, and let his followers threaten government workers on Truth Social. It needs to be taken off of app stores.”
Trump continues to deny the 2020 election results, repost QAnon statements, and let his followers threaten government workers on Truth Social. It needs to be taken off of app stores. https://t.co/B1E5lnPRbD
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) September 4, 2022
Many experts have raised concerns about violence stemming from the QAnon conspiracy theory since many attendees at last year’s Capitol riot were QAnon followers.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office for comment.