‘I’m About to Puke’: QAnon in Chaos as Biden Takes Office

[Alben Barkley]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/im-about-to-puke-qanon-in-chaos-as-biden-takes-office

As the rest of the country waited for Joe Biden to be inaugurated, believers in the QAnon conspiracy theory thought they were about to see something else: the long-awaited mass arrests of Biden and a host of other “deep-state” Democrats, followed by the restoration of the Trump presidency.

“Trump will walk out during the arrest and thank America for reelection,” one QAnon supporter posted on a forum shortly before the inauguration. “This will be remembered as the greatest day since D-Day.”

As Biden was sworn in, though, the mass arrests that QAnon believers call “The Storm,” stubbornly refused to happen. Trump really did appear to have left office, rather than springing the sly trap as they had all hoped. The Democrats really did have control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

The tens of thousands of National Guard soldiers QAnon believers thought would help Trump retake Washington instead appeared to be there for a more obvious purpose: protecting the city from the same crazed QAnon believers who had violently attacked the Capitol two weeks earlier.

“I’m about to puke,” one QAnon fan watching Biden take the oath of office wrote.

For more than three years, tens of thousands of QAnon believers have pinned their hopes for the future on a second Trump term. They’ve become convinced that the government is run by a cabal of satanic pedophile-cannibals and that Trump is the only way to restore justice. Many of them, egged on by promises that Trump’s “plan” included the eradication of diseases and personal debt, pinned their dreams on QAnon as well, alienating friends and family with their ideas.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, the QAnon future vanished, presenting the ever-expanding conspiracy theory with its greatest challenge yet.

As Biden’s inauguration became ever more certain on Wednesday, QAnon believers rapidly cycled through rationalizations. They claimed that Trump was stepping down as the head of the United States “corporation”—an idea borrowed from fringe sovereign citizen legal theories—to become the head of a restored republic. Some QAnon leaders claimed that Biden himself was in on the scheme, and would soon help Trump carry out the arrests.

As Biden finally took office, however, the mood changed quickly on QAnon forums. QAnon channels on messaging app Telegram filled with gifs of far-right mascot Pepe the Frog crying, as believers claimed they had been duped. Believers said they felt sick, or wanted to throw up.

“Trump fooled us,” complained one Telegram commenter.

“All my family and co-workers think I’m crazy,” wrote another.

“I feel stupid,” wrote a third.

Even major QAnon boosters saw their faith in the bizarre conspiracy theory shaken on Monday. QAnon booster Roy Davis co-authored a bestselling book promoting QAnon under the alias “Captain Roy,” even getting his sports car painted with a giant, blazing “Q” on the hood.

As Biden was sworn in, Davis initially told The Daily Beast he didn’t want to comment until he was sure Biden was really president. But as Biden’s new title became official, Davis said he was ready to move on from Q—something his doctor has long urged him to do anyway.

“We misinterpreted it,” Davis said. “Maybe we should have done something different.”

[KaiserDave]

Who care

[Progressive Pessimist]

#CrymoreTrumptard.

[Hermit For Peace]

Good. Maybe now they can get grounded in reality.

[Joe Republic]

A lot of people made arguably a lot of money from the scam, so it served the precise purpose it was created for.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Who care

hoards of hoards of people holding those mics used to care lol

[GeorgiaModerate]

One thing that's hit me in reading about all the people who believe in this stuff with all their heart is that the mental health crisis in this country is far worse than I realized.

[JA]

"I feel stupid," wrote a third

You are stupid.

[Yoda]

One thing that's hit me in reading about all the people who believe in this stuff with all their heart is that the mental health crisis in this country is far worse than I realized.

I personally see it as more of a critical thinking crisis, but I suppose the two are at least somewhat related.

[AGA]

I went to one of their sites and lots of them still have faith in some "plan." Nothing can convince them otherwise.

[Torrain]

I went to one of their sites and lots of them still have faith in some "plan." Nothing can convince them otherwise.

This sounds like a textbook example of the "sunk cost" fallacy.

I expect most of them will deprogram eventually. I fear for the minority who remain 'down the rabbit hole' though, and their offspring in particular. Someone made a comment about the children raised in Q-anon households this week, and I can't stop thinking about that now.

[Pheurton Skeurto]

When you waste years of your life, spend all your money, and isolate yourself from everyone you've ever known and loved for an anonymous poster on a racist message board making proclamations that never come true

[MABA 2020]

lol this is pretty funny

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Trump has been banned off Tritter and it just unmask the right wing extremist group and the coup they tried to pull off and how they were also part of the terrorist attacks against our CR leaders in the 1960s

That's for Twitter for banning Trump

[GP270watch]

It's funny but sad also, really sad.

[ProudModerate2]

One thing that's hit me in reading about all the people who believe in this stuff with all their heart is that the mental health crisis in this country is far worse than I realized.

It really is scary that so many believe in these nutty theories.
They literally live it, day after day. And proudly repeat it as "truth" to family, friends and co-workers.
Just makes me bonkers, because it does not compute.

[ProudModerate2]

CNN's John Avlon: QAnon supporters left desperate and disillusioned.

Click here to watch video ... https://us.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/01/21/reality-check-john-avlon-qanon-supporters-duped-vpx.cnn

[DrScholl]

They really did hold out false hope right up to the end.

[MRS DONNA SHALALA]

[Badger]

I have literally zero interest, or should I say zero desire to put an ounce of effort, towards reuniting with any qanon adherents. They are the bottom of the Barrel in terms of gullibility, ignorance, Superstition, and just outright attraction to the worst far-right impulses. It's not that I have zero sympathy, though damn close, it's that literally not one in a thousand of them are realistically redeemable. They are the worst our country has to offer.

If one or two of them actually get their s*** together and find their way back to the land of the sane, bully for them. Glad they made it. Just so we understand for every one of these freak shows that does actually figure out that this was all an ugly Nexus of Mass mental illness, conspiracy theory Fraud's, and ugly white supremacist BS, 10,000 others will Remain the ugly ignorant creatures they currently are, and we'll find some other noxious cause to devote themselves to now that their worship of the mango Mussolini is now pointless.

tl;dr version, there are millions of people better worth the effort of fostering constructive discussion, rather than wasting said effort with than any qanon loon

[Hammy]

On one hand, this is kind of funny, but on the other, can we stop giving a voice to these people in the first place? CNN has already had two articles (obsessing over lists of Marjorie Taylor Greene tweets in the same way they did with Trump) and another similar to this article, interviewing QAnon people and giving them publicity.

It's clear the media learned absolutely nothing and is just setting up the next terrorist group and would-be dictator for more success.

[Roll Roons]

On one hand, this is kind of funny, but on the other, can we stop giving a voice to these people in the first place? CNN has already had two articles (obsessing over lists of Marjorie Taylor Greene tweets in the same way they did with Trump) and another similar to this article, interviewing QAnon people and giving them publicity.

It's clear the media learned absolutely nothing and is just setting up the next terrorist group and would-be dictator for more success.

This is what I mean when I say that the media really is the enemy of the people. Stop giving the crazies exposure! I don't see them showering attention on, say, Ashley Hinson or Nicole Malliotakis.

[Continential]

On one hand, this is kind of funny, but on the other, can we stop giving a voice to these people in the first place? CNN has already had two articles (obsessing over lists of Marjorie Taylor Greene tweets in the same way they did with Trump) and another similar to this article, interviewing QAnon people and giving them publicity.

It's clear the media learned absolutely nothing and is just setting up the next terrorist group and would-be dictator for more success.

This is what I mean when I say that the media really is the enemy of the people. Stop giving the crazies exposure! I don't see them showering attention on, say, Ashley Hinson or Nicole Malliotakis.

Covering Hinson/Malliotakis is "boring" and doesn't get people to watch them while covering Greene gets people to watch them.