The Anti-Semitic Backstory of QAnon

QAnon is one of the strangest developments on the current political scene. Originating in 2017 on the often racist imageboard website 4chan, its members believe that the world is really being run by a secret cabal of devil-worshiping pedophiles, who include billionaires like Bill Gates, celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, and high-profile Democratic politicians like Hilary Clinton, who traffic children, and rape, torture and murder them, to satisfy their depraved appetites. These monsters drain children of their blood and drink it during Satanic rituals — and President Trump is their arch-nemesis.

There is a strong current of anti-Semitism in the QAnon worldview, ranging from dog-whistle rants about George Soros to explicit and overt claims, like when “angel mom” Mary Ann Mendoza endorsed a Twitter thread about a Jewish plot to take over the United States.