QAnon believers are realizing their entire conspiracy was a hoax as Biden is sworn in
President Biden has taken office, former President Donald Trump is in Florida, and the U.S. still hasn't seen a mass arrests of Democrats or a nationwide blackout.
All of these facts were shocking for some followers of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, as they thought and hoped that Trump would somehow seize permanent power on Wednesday, NBC News reports. But as Biden was sworn in without a hitch, QAnon message boards lit up with followers who realized a violent overthrow of the government wasn't about to happen, that Trump had no secret plans to somehow stay in office, and that they'd been wrong for months, if not years.
"Q was a LARP the entire f---ing time."
"There is no plan.'
"It's over and nothing makes sense... absolutely nothing..." pic.twitter.com/I2k8C7708m— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 20, 2021
Current mood in Q circles
"I just want to throw up"
"I'm so sick of the disinformation and false hope"
"What a waste of my life"
"I feel sick"
"Burning my flag"
"Game over"
"Where is the military"
"I'm just so confused"
"I'm just sick" pic.twitter.com/hUR2N6y1sg— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) January 20, 2021
Even Ron Watkins, the administrator of the extremist message board 8kun who may have even originated QAnon, posted a last-ditch call for unity that didn't acknowledge the harmful conspiracy theories he'd allowed to spread for years.
Ron Watkins, the former 8kun admin who helped keep QAnon afloat for years (and who some suspected of being Q himself), is throwing in the towel. pic.twitter.com/HJdBrOexO2
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) January 20, 2021
Still, just as the many flaws in QAnon's past predictions failed to dissuade supporters, some believers are continuing to make excuses for Wednesday's events and suggesting some sort of overthrow is still possible.
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