Perspectives: Donald Trump's QAnon Remarks

When asked about the QAnon group in a press conference on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he didn't know much about the movement, "other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate." Trump went on to say that from his understanding, the QAnon group "are people that love our country and they just don't like seeing [violence in Portland, Chicago and New York]." QAnon is a group who follow "Q," a purported high-level government official who spreads information on online forums about "deep state" conspiracies at work in the U.S. government. QAnon's ideas have spread from online message boards to mainstream discourse, as 20 congressional candidates on the upcoming November ballot have given credence to or expressed belief in QAnon's ideas. Trump tweeted support for one of those candidates, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, on Aug, 12; Trump also praised QAnon supporter Laura Loomer for her victory in a Republican primary in Florida's 21st district on Tuesday. Coverage from left- and center-rated outlets framed Trump's comments as "praise" of QAnon; many pointed to the FBI's 2019 designation of QAnon as a domestic terrorist threat as proof that QAnon is purportedly "dangerous." The story saw less coverage from the right overall; right-rated outlets who covered the story tended to focus on Trump saying he didn't know much about the group.