“We’re done being treated like shit.”
Will Sommer at The Bulwark:
Aggrieved QAnoners Accuse Trump of Q-Baiting The Trump administration launched a bizarre QAnon-themed social media campaign this week, using QAnon slogans like “trust the plan” and even a fake Q post to promote Trump executive orders on “quantum computing.” “Where we go one, we go quantum,” one Department of Defense account posted on X, a clear play on the QAnon motto: “Where we go one, we go all.” Why would the administration play footsy with QAnon? Perhaps they’re just stirring the pot? Maybe they feel like the QAnon brand is a little less toxic, since it’s been a while since Q believers murdered their family members, kidnapped a child, or stormed Congress? Maybe they’re true believers? After all, Trump has frequently posted QAnon memes in the past, albeit not this explicitly.
The most likely reason is that it’s a troll job—more about that later—but that’s not exactly why, the posts went over so poorly with the QAnon believers (in addition, it almost goes without saying, to normies). The movement, once convinced that Trump was a messianic figure who would literally bring about heaven on earth, apparently has gotten sick of him. “We’re done being treated like shit!” wrote QAnon promoter Liz Crokin, saying Q believers’ lives had been destroyed while Trump did nothing. There are several reasons why QAnon believers are turning on Trump. But the main thrust boils down to this: After trying to block the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and failing to deliver deep-state arrests, some of the movement’s dissatisfied stars think it’s a bit gauche, if not insulting, that the president and his team are appropriating QAnon culture.
No one has been more vocal about this than former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once the nation’s most prominent QAnon believer. After falling out with Trump in part because of his attempts to stop the release of the Epstein files—a key part of the QAnon mythos—Greene tore into the president in a video this week. “Well, now they’re trying to throw out the Q-slop and propaganda to get you guys sucked back in!” Greene said.
[...] In fact, the “quantum” faction of QAnon is among its craziest—embraced by a man who went by the name “Baby Q,” the leader of an off-shoot QAnon sect that once set up a romance-filled compound in Arizona. Baby Q, who claimed to be a time traveler, later pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge and served time in jail. No one better typifies the strange push-and-pull in Trump’s approach to QAnon than Bobby Levy, a rapid response director at the White House. Levy has been gleefully participating in the recent social media effort, posting “Activation Word: Ronald McDonald”—a QAnon catchphrase. On Wednesday, Levy wrote that “patriots are still in control,” yet another QAnon reference.
Donald Trump may no longer be QAnon’s savior.