President Trump is flying around the country this week trying to convince Americans that if they want to Keep America Great, they need to vote Republican in November. But his campaign rally in Tampa Tuesday was about more than just the mid-terms. It was the national coming out party for Q, a conspiracy theory that has been kicking around the Trumpworld internet for just about a year.
One part Pizzagate, one part X-Files, the theory posits that a government agent (with so-called “Q-Level” Top Secret clearance) putting cryptic messages on Trump-friendly message boards, telling adept readers where to find clues that point to a massive government conspiracy that Trump is single-handedly thwarting in secret. Example: The Mueller probe is actually being run by Trump as a smokescreen to cover up an investigation into sex trafficking by Democrats and moviestars, according to some Q believers.
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The Tampa rally had a lot of Qers feeling like Trump acknowledged them directly, urging them to carry on. VICE News spoke with one Florida family who became Q famous after Trump seemed to give them a wave from the rally stage.
This segment originally aired August 1, 2018 on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
