QAnon Is Really Going Through It Right Now
It seems that Q may have finally gone MIA. After a long, grueling four-day election, Joe Biden was announced the winner of the 2020 presidential race, to the shock and unfounded disbelief of President Trump and some of his supporters. Yet 45 isn't the only one seemingly at a crossroads following Biden's victory. The members of QAnon, the infamous conspiracy theory group surrounding the baseless belief that prominent Democrats run a satanic pedophilia cult, have found themselves struggling to carry on, according to a new report from the New York Times. Although they may have snagged a few small victories, as two Republican candidates who have praised the group were elected to the House of Representatives last week, the movement, who largely believed POTUS would win the election by a "landslide," seems to be headed into a period of uncertainty.
The biggest culprit behind this phenomenon? The disappearance of their leader, Q. Since the election results were announced, the user who has essentially led the group for the past three years, reassuring their followers to "trust the plan," has stopped posting on 8Kun, 8Chan's successor and basically the only platform left that tolerates them, with member activity also significantly slowing, the publication reported. Hell, even a diaper fetishist board receiving more new comments than a board regarding the conspiracy. You know you have a tough road ahead when diaper fetishists are coming for your gig.
"They feel really defeated by the deep state, even if they're not admitting it in public," 8Chan founder, Fredrick Brennan, explained. "They were not expecting him to lose, and they were not expecting Fox News to call it. It was really psychologically damaging."
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According to the outlet, It seems there are two camps of QAnon-ers. The first? Those accepting defeat, losing faith in the movement. "We're losing," said one user, according to the New York Times. "Not sure I trust the plan anymore. Not sure there even is a plan.” The second? Those convinced this setback is a part of a larger scheme. "We're winning, folks," QAnon influencer InTheMatrixxx said. "This is not what you thought winning would look like, but trust me," added user Shady Groove.
However, throughout the group's history, this almost blind optimism isn't uncommon. "QAnon believers are used to having Q's predictions not come true," William Partin, a research analyst that studied QAnon, explained. "Sometimes people get disappointed and quit. Others try to adjust the overall narrative to make the setback part of some larger plan. But it's very difficult to do that kind of adjustment with something as large as losing the presidential election."
No matter what happens, QAnon, like many members of the far-right following the election, is in for a seemingly trying time. If only if Danny DeVito was there to offer them an egg ...
