What is Qanon?
Qanon began in ~2017, and now is major player in the extreme right and the belief of more than 20 Republican candidates, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, at the national level, and a major player in Qanon had audiences with Trump in the White House.
What is QAnon? How the conspiracy theory gained traction in 2020 campaign]
QAnon first emerged in the months after President Trump took office, starting on fringe Internet message boards, before spreading to social media.
Adherents allege, among other things, that the president is the target of so-called deep state actors, high-ranking officials plotting against him. The conspiracy quickly took off, and the president's supporters latched on to the mysterious Q.
Signs and T-shirts appeared at Trump's campaign rallies. Last year, the FBI labeled the movement a potential domestic terror threat.
Some congressional candidates, like Lauren Boebert in Colorado, promoted the conspiracy theory to friendly media outlets, before later calling QAnon fake news.
According to Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog group, 20 candidates, all Republicans, except one independent, with varying levels of support for QAnon conspiracies, have advanced to November's general election.
And now Marjorie Taylor Greene's name will be on the ballot as well.
To look more closely at the rise and spread of the QAnon conspiracy on the campaign trail, I'm joined by Travis View, co-host of the "QAnon Anonymous: podcast.
Travis, welcome to the "NewsHour."
You have been following the QAnon conspiracy theory and its followers for a very long time.
Let's start with the basics, though, for those who haven't been. Just explain to us, where and how did the QAnon conspiracy begin?
Travis View:
The QAnon conspiracy theory originated on 4chan in October of 2017, though it has its origin in Pizzagate.
The basic premise is that a group of high-level military intelligence officials close to President Trump, QAnon followers believe, are sending out secret coded messages on these image boards about this great grand battle of good vs. evil, in which Trump and what they call the Q Team are working to destroy a global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, which the QAnon community believes is controlling everything. And that includes politician, entertainment and the media.
Qanon began in ~2017, and now is major player in the extreme right and the belief of more than 20 Republican candidates, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, at the national level, and a major player in Qanon had audiences with Trump in the White House.
What is QAnon? How the conspiracy theory gained traction in 2020 campaign]
QAnon first emerged in the months after President Trump took office, starting on fringe Internet message boards, before spreading to social media.
Adherents allege, among other things, that the president is the target of so-called deep state actors, high-ranking officials plotting against him. The conspiracy quickly took off, and the president's supporters latched on to the mysterious Q.
Signs and T-shirts appeared at Trump's campaign rallies. Last year, the FBI labeled the movement a potential domestic terror threat.
Some congressional candidates, like Lauren Boebert in Colorado, promoted the conspiracy theory to friendly media outlets, before later calling QAnon fake news.
According to Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog group, 20 candidates, all Republicans, except one independent, with varying levels of support for QAnon conspiracies, have advanced to November's general election.
And now Marjorie Taylor Greene's name will be on the ballot as well.
To look more closely at the rise and spread of the QAnon conspiracy on the campaign trail, I'm joined by Travis View, co-host of the "QAnon Anonymous: podcast.
Travis, welcome to the "NewsHour."
You have been following the QAnon conspiracy theory and its followers for a very long time.
Let's start with the basics, though, for those who haven't been. Just explain to us, where and how did the QAnon conspiracy begin?
Travis View:
The QAnon conspiracy theory originated on 4chan in October of 2017, though it has its origin in Pizzagate.
The basic premise is that a group of high-level military intelligence officials close to President Trump, QAnon followers believe, are sending out secret coded messages on these image boards about this great grand battle of good vs. evil, in which Trump and what they call the Q Team are working to destroy a global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, which the QAnon community believes is controlling everything. And that includes politician, entertainment and the media.