As the details of a military coup in Myanmar were still emerging on Monday morning, QAnon world was going into overdrive, linking the military takeover to its long-held belief that former President Donald Trump would lead a similar takeover in the U.S.
For QAnon supporters, the similarities were uncanny: a November election, claims of widespread fraud against the conservative party, and the courts siding with the “liberals.”
Videos by VICE
So when the military moved in, as QAnon supporters have been promised would happen in the U.S. for years, it was too much to ignore.
Almost instantly, QAnon believers drew American “elites” into the conspiracy theory, posting photos of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi shaking hands with former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Jewish billionaire philanthropist (and a general bogeyman for most conspiracy theorists) George Soros.
A 2018 report about child trafficking in Myanmar was also boosted as somehow more evidence that this was all “part of the plan.”
One major QAnon account dredged up an old tweet from the voting machine company Smartmatic, kicking off more conspiracies about it and Dominion Voting Systems being involved in election fraud, just as they had been accused during the U.S. election — again without any evidence.
Failed Republican candidate Angela Stanton King, who has voiced support for QAnon in the past, asked why something similar wasn’t happening in America.
Jordan Sather, who is one of the biggest influencers in the QAnon community, flagged on his Telegram account comments from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggesting they showed the coup in Myanmar was all part of the plan, and that something similar was going to happen in the U.S.
A poster on one of the most popular QAnon message boards even posted a version of a viral video of Myanmar woman Khing Hnin Wai dancing to “Ampun Bang Jago” while the military coup unfolds in the background.
The QAnon version, naturally, features a dancing Donald Trump:
Over on Patriots.win, a rabidly pro-Trump message board that was formerly called TheDonald.win, one user lamented the fact that Myanmar’s army could not also be used to oust President Joe Biden.
“TFW you learn that Myanmar’s military can’t come over to arrest your politicians too,” Monsieur_Novembre wrote in one of the site’s most popular posts on Monday.
But not everyone was convinced by the completely baseless attempts to shoehorn Myanmar into the QAnon mythology.
Under a post showing photos of Aung San Suu Kyi meeting Obama and Soros, one user on the GreatAwakening forum commented: “[I’m] just tired of random photos with no context. Yes, we know the wealthy elites all mix together, but what is happening here, and what is the significance of it?”
Another said: “Yeah I don’t get it… what are we looking at?” while another added: “Nuthin to see here….Zzzzzzzz.”
Following Trump’s defeat in November’s election, and Biden’s inauguration two weeks ago — both events QAnon followers were told would not happen — the cult has tried to find a path forward that doesn’t include Trump as president.
After a brief period of unrest within Q-world, the movement quickly got back on track by embracing aspects of the sovereign citizen movement and predicting that Trump would become president once again on March 4, the date of presidential inaugurations until 1933.
Co-opting the coup in Myanmar into part of “the plan” is simply another attempt by the influencers within the QAnon world to keep the conspiracy movement relevant and ensure their hundreds of thousands of loyal followers keep the faith.
