Trump shares QAnon conspiracy about himself
Meme also referenced Joe Biden’s ‘MAGA King’ comments
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump delighted QAnon supporters after he shared a meme featuring himself and the “Q” symbol on Truth Social, his social media platform.
According to screenshots of the meme shared on Twitter on Monday, a “Q” could be seen behind the former president, who was shown seated on a throne and sporting a gold crown in the style of Game of Thrones.
The words “Maga King” also appeared behind Mr Trump in the meme, in reference to US President Joe Biden’s recent remarks about his predecessor’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) slogan.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Katie McCarthy said the image was created by a known QAnon follower, Chad Vivas (or KagDrogo), in a tweet about the post.
Ms McCarthy added that Mr Vivas was pictured giving the former president’s son Eric Trump a similar image at “Reawaken America” in March – an event featuring former Trump aide and alleged conspiracy theorist Michael Flynn.
“The graphic was created by Chad Vivas, a known QAnon adherent,” said Ms McCarthy. “He’s the guy who presented Trump’s son Eric with a painting that also featured a ‘Q’ during the Reawaken America conference back in March.”
Mr Trump’s followers on Truth Social allegedly celebrated the meme as a sign of acknowledgment of their support of the Republican, Ms McCarthy added.
One person allegedly wrote: “Mainstream MAGA is gonna learn the hard way on Truth Social that Q was not a crazy conspiracy theory”.
While it was unclear if the post was intentionally shared by Mr Trump to show support for his supporters who believe in QAnon, it is not the first time he has engaged with the group.
That includes during a presidential debate in 2020, when he appeared to defend the conspiracy theory and said: “What I do hear about it, they are very strongly against pedophilia”.
He was forced to roll back the apparent endorsement of the conspiracy, which is based on the idea that a secret “deep state” or cabal is working against Mr Trump. It is unfounded.
Alex Kaplan, of Media Matters, added on Monday that the meme was also not the first time Mr Trump had shared something associated with QAnon.
“Trump, after amplifying QAnon-promoting accounts on Twitter more than 300 times before he was suspended from the platform, has returned to doing so on a different platform, Truth Social,” Mr Kaplan wrote.
“Trump in the past day also “re-truthed” (reposted) 2 posts from an account featuring the QAnon slogan right in its profile.”
The Independent has approached Mr Trump for comment.
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