(OPINION) ETH – QAnon saw their hopes once again fizzle out today as President Trump left Washington on the final day of his presidency, without any of the crazy conspiracies coming to fruition that have been circulating on the internet and social media outlets ranging from claims of blackouts, martial law, mass arrests, and a military takeover.
As Trump boarded Air Force One and was heading to Florida, The Washington Post says that many QAnon adherents began to wonder whether they’d been duped all along. According to the Post, One QAnon channel on the chat app Telegram posted a new theory that suggested Biden himself was “part of the plan,” a number of followers shifted into open rebellion:
“This will never happen.” “Just stfu already!” “It’s over. It is sadly, sadly over.” “What a fraud!” Then another blow came to the conspiracy group when the “Qresearch” forum on 8kun, QAnon’s online home, was reportedly wiped clean by a site moderator, who said in a rambling screed that “I am just performing euthanasia to something I once loved very very much.”
Shortly after, the site’s leaders restored the deleted material and demanded the moderator’s death” Although many eyes were opened to the deception, New conspiracy theories were birthed at the inauguration of Biden with some of their followers pointing out 17 flags — and with “Q” being the 17th letter of the alphabet — it set the conspiracies ablaze once again.
“17 flags! come on now this is getting insane,” said one post on a QAnon forum devoted to the “Great Awakening,” the quasi-biblical name for QAnon’s utopian end times. “I don’t know how many signs have to be given to us before we ‘trust the plan,’” one commenter said.
According to the Washington post, After Biden’s inauguration, Ron Watkins — who was the longtime 8kun administrator who critics have suspected may have helped write Q’s posts himself, said on Telegram that it was time to move on. “We need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able,” said Watkins,
who in recent months had become one of the loudest backers of conspiracy theories suggesting Biden’s win was a fraud. “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,” Watkins added. “As we enter into the next administration please remember all the friends and happy memories we made together over the past few years.”
