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Followers of the sprawling QAnon conspiracy theory remain undeterred by the inauguration of Joe Biden and are still predicting a triumphant return for former US president Donald Trump.
Despite Trump being long gone from the White House, some of his most extreme supporters still believe he could make a comeback.
Spoiler alert: it hasn’t happened yet.
And they've had many attempts at trying to convince the general public that he's really coming, back, too.
1. The apparent significance of 4 March
This belief is based on an unfounded theory that the US became a corporation, rather than a country, following the passage of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 - a misunderstanding of the act, which made the District of Columbia into a municipal corporation (a local governing body).
“The cited law organises and recognises the District of Columbia government at the time as a municipal corporation,” Michael Morley, a law professor at Florida State University, told The Dispatch Fact Check in January.
“It does not purport to turn the United States as a whole into a corporation. The statute has no bearing on any candidate’s entitlement to the presidency.”
2. Obama, Hillary Clinton, George Soros and more were planning a coup against Trump
The central belief of QAnon is that there is a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping paedophiles running a global child sex-trafficking ring at the heart of America's elite, raging war with Donald Trump.
Many public figures have been attached to this baseless theory, but among the most popular are Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and billionaire investor George Soros. There is literally no evidence to support any of this.
3. The Mueller investigation was actually a counter-coup led by Trump
You would think that the Mueller investigation into Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia would be used as evidence of an attempt to take down the then-president.
However, in QAnon-lore, Mueller was actually working secretly with Trump, constructing an elaborate cover story for an investigation into high-profile paedophiles.
Of course, when the final report turned out to be a damp squib, their attention drifted elsewhere.
4. The "Storm" would take place on 20 January 2021, preventing Biden’s inauguration
The Storm - based on a cryptic comment by Trump describing a meeting with US military leaders as “the calm before the storm” - is a key part of the QAnon theory.
It is the name of a supposedly imminent event in which thousands of alleged child-eating paedophiles will be arrested and imprisoned.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, followers started to believe that Biden’s inauguration would be the day of the mass arrests and Trump would be sworn in as president again.
Of course, that didn't happen.
5. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey will be forced to resign
On various occasions, QAnon supporters have claimed that Mark Zuckerberg would have to resign from Facebook and flee the US, and Jack Dorsey would be forced to resign from Twitter.
While Dorsey did step down as CEO of the bird app in November 2021, he said it's because he believes "it's critical a company can stand on its own, free of its founder's influence or direction".
Zuckerberg is yet to resign or flee the US.
6. Industrial bleach can be used as a ‘miracle cure’ for Covid-19
During the first weeks of the pandemic in 2020, QAnon supporters encouraged people to drink MMS (“Miracle Mineral Solution”) - an industrial bleach that has been falsely touted as a cure for everything from HIV and cancer to autism. Trump infamously touted a similar belief just weeks into the Covid pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned people against drinking MMS, warning it could cause “acute liver failure”.
Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug, has also been touted as a Covid 'cure', and when one grandfather tried it on his granddaughter, it almost killed her.
See also: a baseless conspiracy theory that Bill Gates is planning to use the pandemic to microchip Americans...
7. Pope Francis was arrested on felony charges
In January 2020, a fake article shared by QAnon supporters falsely claimed that Pope Francis had been arrested in connection with an “80-count indictment of charges”, including possession of child pornography, human trafficking and incest.
Of course, the Pope has not been arrested, he has not faced any charges and he has repeatedly appeared in public since…
8. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un was installed as a puppet leader by the CIA
According to a 2018 Vice article, QAnon followers believe Kim Jong-un was installed by the US secret service as a puppet leader in North Korea, designed to keep the world in fear of nuclear war.
In short, the theory goes that the evil cabal which controls the world needed a constant threat to maintain their power so formed a new nation (North Korea) and put in place the Kim family as its rulers.
9. Germany’s Angela Merkel is secretly Adolf Hitler’s granddaughter…
QAnon has become a sort of “big tent conspiracy theory” which pulls in ideas from other previously established groups.
For example, one somewhat tangential part of the conspiracy apparently involves German chancellor Angela Merkel being Adolf Hitler’s granddaughter - or in some cases his daughter...
A piece of so-called “evidence” for this theory is a photograph of Hitler with a young girl which was published in 1937.
Some conspiracy theorists falsely claim this girl is Merkel, despite her being born in 1954 - 17 years after the picture was taken and nine years after Hitler killed himself.
10. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by a body double before her death
Former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away shortly before the 2020 presidential election, apparently died a year earlier than reported and her public appearances that year involved a body double, according to some QAnon posters.
This supposed cover-up was apparently done to prevent Trump from choosing the next Supreme Court Justice - although of course, he did that anyway when she died.
11. JFK Jr is still alive
One of the strangest parts of QAnon-lore is the belief that John F Kennedy Jr, the son of President John F Kennedy, did not die in a plane crash in 1999 and is still alive.
Some followers believed that Kennedy Jr was going to be announced as Trump’s running mate for the 2020 election, replacing Mike Pence.
There have been various times when JFK Jr was expected to return from hiding - such as Trump’s 4th July rally in 2019 and an October 2020 Maga rally in Dallas - but, as you may have guessed, it never came to pass.
That hasn't stopped the supporters of the wild conspiracy theory, however, with backers claiming JFK disguised himself as Trump during a 2022 rally in Arizona, or that he's a member of the Rolling Stones.
12. Biden is Q
It takes a special kind of insanity for something to be considered a fringe theory within QAnon but one idea that has been thrown around since Biden’s election victory last year is that Biden is in fact Q - the mysterious figure leaking information about Trump’s battle against the cabal.
According to the Australian website News.com.au, one version of the theory is that Biden is actually JFK Jr wearing a CGI mask, as JFK Jr has sometimes been guessed as the true identity of Q.
However, other QAnon believers apparently think that Biden could be a malfunctioning robot wearing human-like skin.
And if they're not saying that Biden is Q, then they're saying a cicada - a cricket-like bug - landing on Biden's neck in June 2021 is a sign from the mysterious 'Q'.
We wish we were joking.
13. Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview in 2021 was CGI
Yes, really.
14. The Suez Canal-blocking Ever Given was actually used to transport sex slaves for top Democrats
Will Sommer, a Daily Beast reporter, told the Fever Dreams podcast that QAnon conspiracists are connecting 'Ever Given' with its operator, Evergreen Marine Corporation, and Hilary Clinton's Secret Service code name being "Evergreen" - apparently.
“So they were like, ‘Maybe the boat was trafficking something on behalf of Hillary Clinton, maybe the captain ran it aground as a signal.” Sommer explained to co-host Asawin Suebsaeng. “There’s always grist in the mill that these people can draw on.”
15. Nancy Pelosi is sending secret messages to them
After sharing a video announcing her attention to run again for Congress, in which she stands in front of a row of houses known as the "painted ladies", QAnon supporters believe Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leaving "comms" for backers of the conspiracy to decipher.
The "painted ladies" also feature in the intro of the 1990s sitcom Full House, which starred Bob Saget, who recently passed away.
One user of a popular QAnon forum wrote: “Using the 'Painted Ladies' the background this close to Saget’s death makes me think it’s comms [communications]. There are plenty of other iconic SF backgrounds that could be used. 95 per cent of the pop couldn’t tell you where those houses are. Not that common. [sic]"
16. Believing a White House St Patrick's Day display was an actual 'green light' for something big
“Look what I just found. St Patrick’s day ‘coincidence’? Hmmm," one QAnon supporter wrote on Telegram.
It really isn't. It's literally just a light, with green being the colour of Ireland.
We hate that we have to explain this.
17. Everyone catching the Omicron variant of coronavirus will end the pandemic - apparently
“Will the pandemic end if everyone gets antibodies from omicron?” QAnon conspiracy theorist Ron Watkins hypothesized on Telegram, per Daily Dot. “Now you know why they rushed to shut down the spread of omicron even though the symptoms are very mild.”
Good lord.
18. Trump backs the Ukraine-Russia conflict to destroy 'secret labs' run by Dr Fauci
In the one of the more recent claims by the conspiracists, Trump backers believe the former president is working with Russia’s Vladimir Putin as part of the leader’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Putin previously stated the move – which has been met with international condemnation and economic sanctions – was part of a “special military operation” for the “demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine.
However, NBC News reports that QAnon conspiracists believe a baseless claim that the crisis is in fact a cover for an attack on “secret laboratories” in Ukraine supposedly run by the US president’s chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci.
Both the White House and Ukraine have dismissed the claims, obviously, as they're unsubstantiated.
These conspiracists are obsessed with Q, but all we want to know is: why?
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