That’s funny. But before we laugh too hard, consider this:
A new poll from YouGov found that around 30% of self-identified Republicans have a favorable view of QAnon, the baseless far-right conspiracy theory that claims President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a “deep state” cabal of satanic pedophiles and cannibals.
The poll of 1,500 US citizens found that an overwhelming majority of Americans — around 63% — have a somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of the conspiracy movement. A plurality of Republicans, 39%, agree.
But according to the survey, 30% of GOP voters who say they have a positive response to the conspiracy theory, which represents a sizable bloc of the party.
The results are also not an outlier. In December 2020, an NPR/Ipsos poll found that 17% of Americans — and 23% of Republicans — believe that a “group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media,” a key tenet of QAnon.
Only 47% of those surveyed, including a majority of Democrats, were confident that the assertion was false. Meanwhile, at least two new Republican members of Congress — Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado — are avowed followers of the “Q” hoax.
It’s tempting to think that the lunacy around Trump is finally coming to an end. (10 Republicans voted for impeachment! Woohoo!) But there are tens of millions of Americans out there who not only believe the election was stolen and that Trump is Jesus but there is a substantial subset who think he’s “fighting a deep state cabal of satanic pedophiles and cannibals.” Our problems are not over.