As comedian and TV writer Robby Slowik wrote on Threads last weekend, "QAnon was almost right about all of it."
QAnon said, "'There is a cabal of billionaire pedophiles, and Donald Trump is the only one who will expose them,' and they were right about both things.'"
For those who survived Epstein's (and Trump's) abuse, the 20+ year cover-up they have been forced to endure has been as tragic as it has been unacceptable.
The tragedy for the rest of us is that those who knew the full story were able to bury the truth, manipulate millions, and steal two elections along the way
Almost six years ago, I wrote in one of my first Unprecedented posts about how Putin and his right-wing collaborators "used Pizzagate to turn Trump’s weakness for young women against Hillary" — creating a scandal big enough to swing an election:
Back in 2016, Vladimir “Kompromat” Putin knew enough about Donald Trump to worry that Jeffrey Epstein’s close personal friend might be exposed as a serial sex predator prior to the Presidential election. To counter that possibility, Russian operatives got out ahead of the “Pussygrabber” story by launching “Pizzagate” — a baseless conspiracy theory that convinced many Americans that Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring in the basement of a pizza restaurant.
How much Pizzagate contributed to Donald Trump’s razor-thin victory (by a combined 77,000 votes in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan) is open to speculation. But Pizzagate was clearly one of the storylines that helped energize Trump voters while depressing turnout for Hillary.
In a similar vein, I wrote in February 2024 about how Trump's "hush money" crimes in the Stormy Daniels case contributed to his first election win.
Today, it's clear that Pizzagate and the Stormy Daniels cover-up, taken together, made a decisive difference in the 2016 Electoral College outcome.
It's also fair to say that:
QAnon was right to believe an elite cabal of rich and powerful men were cruelly exploiting children and getting away it
What QAnon got wrong was nearly everything else: who was responsible, how it operated, and why the truth was suppressed.
The conspiracy was never about pizza shops or coded emails or Anderson Cooper eating babies.
It was about money, influence, kompromat, and fear. Trump, Putin and the GOP used disinformation to bury reality beneath spectacle and absurdity.
A fake conspiracy was allowed to flourish because it distracted from the real one.
The truth was out there.
They just made it unbelievable.
More about QAnon from 2023: "OK, Groomer"
OK, Groomer
Republican projection is creating danger for teachers, librarians and the LGBTQ community
Richard Hine
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