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Why won't Trump denounce QAnon?
Because 21% of Republicans who know of the conspiracy theory say it's "very accurate." Another 17% say it's "somewhat accurate" https://morningconsult.com/2020/10/14/social-media-qanon-poll/
Because 21% of Republicans who know of the conspiracy theory say it's "very accurate." Another 17% say it's "somewhat accurate" https://morningconsult.com/2020/10/14/social-media-qanon-poll/
And for clarity, 44% of Republicans have heard of QAnon, 56% say they have not. So it's a pretty sizable number that believe it.
Cross tabs for the survey are in link below. The approval of QAnon question was asked thusly: "As you may know, QAnon is a term referring to multiple far-right conspiracy theories. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable impression of QAnon?" https://assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/2020/10/12170716/201025_crosstabs_QANON_Adults_v1.pdf
The Pew Research Center polled on QAnon last month and had similar findings to Morning Consult. 41% of GOP respondents who knew of it said it was either "somewhat good" or "very good" for the country: https://www.journalism.org/2020/09/16/most-americans-who-have-heard-of-qanon-conspiracy-theories-say-they-are-bad-for-the-country-and-that-trump-seems-to-support-people-who-promote-them/
In the Morning Consult survey, 21% of all Republican men said that they had posted positively on social media about QAnon. 11% of GOP women said the same. Interestingly, 18% of Dem men said this also. 7% of Dem women agreed.
Many political journalists still don't understand the importance of QAnon. The specific, ludicrous ideas of the movement are not yet believed by a majority of Republican base voters. But the idea that only the current GOP leader can be trusted is highly dangerous.
Because no current high-profile GOP figures espouse QAnon, many editors don't realize that conspiracism is beginning to supplant conservatism.
Even those journos who do discuss this trend often do so only to damage Trump. But it's far bigger than him.
Even those journos who do discuss this trend often do so only to damage Trump. But it's far bigger than him.
Politico's @tina_nguyen had a great look at how GOP politicians are making peace with QAnon in particular but the phenomenon of conspiracism becoming ascendant is happening in other ways as well https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/15/qanon-trump-maga-movement-429739
It is also worth noting that QAnon is not a uniquely conservative phenomenon either. It has appeal among lefty "wellness" devotees and "alternative medicine" adherents. Common denominator is a willingness to believe elites are suppressing hidden truth https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/wellness-qanon-coronavirus/
The worst thing about the internet is that people who believe stupid nonsense can now talk to each other about it. Unfortunately, the best cure for this is national curricula requirements on critical thinking and philosophy. It may be too late for those not in school though.
One last thought: In a 2017 YouGov poll, 57% of self-identified Donald Trump voters said that Barack Obama was "definitely" or "probably" born in Kenya. https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/jhdmzhxe6k/econTabReport.pdf
I lied, here's one more tweet. This article is a great inside look at how GOP campaign operatives value QAnon believers and see them as a net positive for Trump's re-election bid https://www.businessinsider.com/how-qanon-infiltrated-the-gop-2020-10
