Daily US Times: Followers of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory are divided after the inauguration of Joe Biden as their predictions that Donald Trump would remain in power in order to punish his enemies in the “deep state”.
Many reacted with shock and despair as Democrat Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president.
“I just want to throw up,” said one of QAnon followers in a popular chat on the Telegram messaging app. “I’m so sick of all the disinformation and false hope,” while others insisted “the plan” had not failed, finding new theories to latch on to.
QAnon followers had been promoting for weeks that 20 January as a day of reckoning, when prominent Democrats and other elite “Satanic paedophiles” would be arrested and executed on the orders of President Donald Trump.
But, as Mr Biden took his oath to the Obal Office and no arrests were made, some in the QAnon community had an uncomfortable meeting with reality.
One wrote: “It’s done and we were played.”
In the hours that followed, thousands more made similar comments on platforms like Telegram, Gab and other online forums where believers go to discuss the conspiracy theories after being kicked off mainstream social media in the wake of the Capitol riots.
Doubt even seeped into posts by some of the biggest influencers of the QAnon movement, as some started to question the phrase “Trust the plan” – a key slogan of the movement that has been used by “Q”, an anonymous figure whom followers believe to be an influential government insider.
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