weeks prior to the election, President Trump first claimed he "knew nothing" about QAnon, but he then praised its believers for being "very strongly against pedophilia." The President emphasized: "And I agree with that. I mean, I do agree with that."[321]
In 2020, QAnon played a significant role in spreading various election conspiracy theories. After the election, QAnon accounts amplified the claim that Dominion Voting System's software had altered votes.[322] On November 19th, President Trump tweeted and retweeted a link to a segment on One America News Network (OAN) that was captioned, "Dominion-izing the Vote."[323] The segment claimed that Dominion had switched votes from President Trump to former Vice President Biden. OAN featured a supposed cyber expert, Ron Watkins, a key figure in the QAnon conspiracy movement.[324] Watkins's father, Jim, owned the 8kun site that "Q" called home, and Ron helped oversee its message boards.[325]
After promoting the OAN segment, President Trump retweeted Ron Watkins's account on several other occasions. On December 15, 2020, President Trump retweeted a post in which Watkins spread false claims of foreign influence in the election.[326] Then, on January 3rd, President Trump retweeted Ron Watkins's account four more times.[327]
QAnon's adherents were clearly paying attention to President Trump's words—and tweets. The President's "be wild" tweet was widely heard as a clarion call. Jim Watkins told the Select Committee that "thousands and thousands of people probably" agreed that the President's December 19th tweet was a call for them to come to Washington, DC.[328] Jim Watkins himself marched in Washington, DC on January 6th because of the President's call, but he has not been charged with any crime.[329]
Other QAnon adherents flocked to Washington, DC in response to the President's call to action. "POTUS HAS REQUESTED YOUR ATTENDANCE Washington DC JANUARY 6TH 2021," Thomas Munn, a QAnon believer, posted on Facebook. Munn added: "Our President has only asked two things from us, so far…#1 Vote #2 January 6, 2021."[330] Jacob Chansley, better known as the QAnon Shaman, told the FBI that he traveled from Arizona because President Trump had requested that all "patriots" come to Washington, DC on January 6th.[331]
During the investigation, the Select Committee learned that the QAnon conspiracy theory often overlaps with other extremist beliefs. Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers testified to the Select Committee that he's "not a Q-tard" and "not a follower of Q at all."[332] However, Rhodes cynically exploited QAnon for his own purposes. The Oath Keepers' website and text messages were littered with QAnon phrases.[333] Nick Quested, a filmmaker who shadowed the Proud Boys, often heard QAnon themes in the Proud Boys' private discussions.[334]
