GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger has called on President Donald Trump to debunk the QAnon conspiracy, saying that it has gone “mainstream” after a theory-backing Republican candidate all but secured a seat in congress after a primary win.
Kinzinger, who has locked horns with Trump in the past, came out swinging against the conspiracy theory during an episode of CNN’s Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter on Sunday.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger speaks out against QAnon and disinformation. “If you believe in this conspiracy theory stuff, especially QAnon, do some independent research. There’s a of stuff debunking it.” pic.twitter.com/GdcZgXJT5F
Before his appearance on Trump’s least-favoured channel (well, maybe after Fox News), Kinzinger posted a YouTube video, talking about why people fall for conspiracy theories like the fake Moon landing theory and QAnon, which originally sprang up at the 4-chan website in October 2017.
The theory is based on online postings or “Q-drops” from an alleged government insider known only as “Q,” who casts himself as a “patriot.” The theory alleges that there exist child sex trafficking rings among the powerful, as well as Satan-worship and occultism. Some QAnon devotees believe that deep state actors are trying to undermine the Trump administration.
Speaking to Stelter, who called the four-minute YouTube clip “outstanding,” Kinzinger said that he believes that top Republicans, who have generally kept mum about the theory, should speak up against it since it has gone “mainstream.”
I think up to maybe about a week ago there wasn’t a reason to denounce it because it didn't need the attention, but now that it's made mainstream, we have a candidate that embraces it that won a primary
Kinzinger referred to Marjorie Taylor Greene, who prevailed over fellow Republican John Cowan this week to win the Georgia primary, and with that, most likely a Congress seat, given that her district is a deeply red one.
Greene has come under fire from both left and right for her support of the QAnon theory, as well as her harsh criticism of Democratic mega-donor George Soros. However, that did not stop her slide to a primary victory, gaining over 57 percent of the vote.
Arguing that Republicans should distance themselves from the theory, Kinzinger took a thinly-veiled swipe at Trump, saying: “The president hasn't fully denounced it or denounced it at all,” adding that “now it's time” for leaders to come out against it.
Ironically, when going after one conspiracy, Kinzinger has added fire to another, saying that while it’s not clear who was behind the theory, it might as well be… Russia.
“We don’t necessarily know where it comes from...if it’s just one person, if it’s a basement dweller or [if] that’s started as a joke, if it’s multiple people now, if it’s Russian intelligence even," he said in the YouTube video.
Trump congratulated Greene shortly after her resounding primary victory, however, he has brushed off questions about her QAnon beliefs so far.
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