Donald Trump and the birth of QMaga: The storm is coming.

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/09/donald-trump-and-the-birth-of-qmaga-the-storm-is-coming/


Those of us paying attention the past few years know that the answer to the oft-repeated question— have we reached the bottom of Trumpism?—is, there’s no bottom. Donald Trump and the Republican Party proved that once again in recent days, as Trump merged MAGA extremism with the conspiratorial lunacy of QAnon, and nary a Republican batted an eye.

In retrospect, the melding of MAGAism with QAnon—and toss in a helping of Christian nationalism—seemed inevitable. The QAnon conspiracy theory holds that the world is controlled by a cabal of satanic, baby-eating, sex-trafficking pedophiles—which includes, of course, top Democrats, assorted elites, Hollywood celebrities, and the Pope—and that Trump is engaged in titanic combat behind the scenes to crush this evil power and save humanity (and lots of babies). Under assorted variants of this nuttery, Trump is being aided by John F. Kennedy Jr. (who did not die in a 1999 plane crash), and he will be restored to power in a final cataclysmic battle that involves mass arrests of Lucifer’s allies (lock ’em up in Gitmo!) and televised executions. Trump fully embraced the QAnon insanity last week, and this means that the Republican Party now supports a man who advances a dangerous derangement that exceeds his Big Lie about the 2020 election and that further delegitimizes American democracy and debases political discourse. And this party has a good shot at gaining control of Congress in seven weeks.

For years, Trump had played footsie with QAnon, claiming he didn’t know much about it but praising its adherents’ supposed patriotism, their opposition to pedophilia and, naturally, their cultish love of him. Offered the chance to denounce this perverse craziness, he bobbed and weaved, sending the signal to QAnoners—who are always looking for signals—that they did indeed possess the hidden truth. With nods and winks, he validated their paranoia and detachment from reality, as QAnon conspiracism led to numerous acts of violence.

QAnon flags and symbols blossomed at Trump’s 2020 campaign rallies, and they were present at the insurrectionist January 6 assault on the US Capitol. In the way previous Republicans over the years had encouraged and exploited right-wing extremism—a story I tell in my new book, American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy—Trump capitalized on this bizarre and bonkers internet phenomenon without endorsing it. His plan looked obvious: take advantage of this brainsickness and boost his base of supporters without being tarred as a champion of this looniness.

*snip*

[usonian]

1. Much as the GQP goes along, FOR NOW, he knows that his "base" is all he can count on.

He must be like the rat that can smell the cat coming from 100 feet away.

The GQP ship will desert the sinking rat. (or just stay home on election day)

The "EXTREME" label did no good for Barry Goldwater



And let's carry Georgia and Arizona! Go Blue.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Goldwater got stomped! I remember this well!

[Genki Hikari]

6. I wish the map would turn out like that again, but

I think we know it won't, because too many Rs have embraced their worst selves. It wouldn't matter so much if we weren't a two party system, but we are, like it or not.

[Thomas Hurt]

2. I have always considered Q a subset of MAGA.

If you are a Qnut you are a MAGA, not necessarily so the other way around, but MAGAts aren't opposed to it either.

I don't see how they can be.

[moonscape]

3. I miss the tumultuous

60’s when things were saner.

[Blue Owl]

5. A storm is coming? Looks to me like an out-of-shape fat fuck waddling his way toward a camera...