"'Q' of Qanon emerged in fall 2017, when the Trump admin could no longer deny criminal and Kremlin ties due to Manafort and Flynn's arrests. It also emerged at the height of MeToo, which was moving in on Epstein. This was preemptive narrative inversion." https://www.patreon.com/posts/so-many-cults-so-40866243

"QAnon was an early propaganda intervention, in which those looking into Epstein could be redirected toward a Trump-supporting movement, instead of examining Trump being accused in court of raping a 13-year-old procured by Epstein." -- @gaslitnation https://www.patreon.com/posts/so-many-cults-so-40866243

"QAnon was the flip side to the irrational 'Mueller will save us' movement of 2017-2018, which also talked of non-existent sealed indictments and secret saviors. I wrote about this in HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT." https://www.patreon.com/posts/so-many-cults-so-40866243

"Savior syndrome and cults flourish during the unstable period before autocratic consolidation. People are so frightened, they don't know who to trust. They want to follow. They don't want to think." -- @gaslitnation https://www.patreon.com/posts/so-many-cults-so-40866243

"Asking questions is a good, healthy practice. But some people following QAnon are being driven into a dark cause. On the Democratic side, you also see people being tricked. It's not a matter of intelligence; it's emotional manipulation." -- @gaslitnation https://www.patreon.com/posts/so-many-cults-so-40866243