William Brangham:
On the campaign trail and in office, President Trump has a habit of courting unfounded conspiracies. That includes QAnon, the belief that some hidden figure in the government, Q, is explaining how Donald Trump is waging a secret battle against dark, nefarious forces, including a cabal of child sex traffickers.
This belief evolved from online obscurity to now where you regularly see QAnon signs at Trump rallies, and the president reposted a QAnon meme on social media as recently as last week.
So to understand how President Trump’s amplification of QAnon fuels speculation about Jeffrey Epstein, we are joined by Will Sommer. He’s a writer at The Bulwark and author of “Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America.
Will Sommer, so good to have you on the program.
There is clearly an ideological connection between Jeffrey Epstein and QAnon. And, Will, we can talk about that. But, first, remind us, how did QAnon move from the fringe into this more prominent place in our politics?
