Trump refuses to disavow QAnon conspiracy theory
during town hall
Asked by host Savannah Guthrie if he would ‘just say
it’s crazy and not true’, Trump says: ‘I don’t know about QAnon’
Adam
Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Fri 16 Oct
2020 02.10 BST
Donald
Trump refused to denounce QAnon – a rightwing conspiracy theory that the FBI
believes is a potential domestic terror threat – during an NBC town hall on
Thursday night.
Asked by
the NBC host Savannah Guthrie if he would denounce the theory and “just say
it’s crazy and not true”, Trump responded: “I don’t know about QAnon.”
Guthrie
suggested to Trump that he did actually know about the conspiracy theory, which
has been widely covered in the press and has found support among many of
Trump’s supporters.
“What I do
hear about it, they are very strongly against pedophilia,” Trump said.
QAnon
adherents believe that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats, Hollywood
celebrities and billionaires runs the world while engaging in pedophilia, human
trafficking and the harvesting of a supposedly life-extending chemical from the
blood of abused children. The conspiracy theory has roots in antisemitic
tropes.
After
Trump’s comment, Guthrie again pressed him to clarify that he did not believe
in the conspiracy theory.
As Trump
continued to equivocate, and the pair talked over one another, Trump said: “So
cute.”
Later
Guthrie asked Trump why he had retweeted a QAnon Twitter account which claimed,
baselessly, that Joe Biden had had a navy Seal team killed.
“That was a
retweet! People can decide for themselves!” Trump said.
Guthrie
responded: “I don’t get that. You’re the president, not someone’s crazy uncle.”
The Trump
town hall, in Miami, was scheduled after Trump refused to commit to a virtual
presidential debate. Biden held a town hall at the same time on ABC.
Several Republican
candidates running for Congress in November have backed QAnon – and in turn
been endorsed by Trump.
Additional
reporting by Julia Carrie Wong
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