The QAnon conspiracy web hinges on the deranged belief that a covert group of satanic cannibal pedophiles secretly controls the United States government, and that former President Donald Trump was sent to expose them.
As absurd as the theory is, it's not without its share of believers. The delusion made its way from the dark corners of the internet to the stages of Trump rallies, the halls of Congress, and the deadly failed insurrection against the U.S. Capitol.
Though QAnoners spent years believing anonymous posts from the internet claiming Trump would soon expose the Democratic lawmakers they hated so much, these hopes have largely subsided with Trump out of office for the better part of a year and no "master plan" to reveal itself.
That may be why Eugene "Gene" Ho—a candidate for Mayor of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Trump's former campaign photographer—deleted prior support for the deranged conspiracy theory from his website, according to a report from Ej Dickson of Rolling Stone.
Dickson was able to review past pages of Ho's website through the WayBack machine. Ho's home page for the site, Patriot Forty-Five, described its mission to "provide patriotic, Q & Jesus-lovin' gear that is Made in the USA."
In case there was any doubt of what the "Q" referred to, Ho's site sold merch with popular Q slogans like "WWG1WGA" (where we go one, we go all), "Get WQke," and other references to the QAnon mass delusion. The site even featured a shirt reading "Trump/Kennedy 2020," based on claims from some QAnoners that John F. Kennedy Jr. is actually alive and would be Trump's running mate.
But since Ho launched his mayoral run, the QAnon references have evaporated.
But the internet is forever, and people were soon reacting to the news.
Some fear that, in Myrtle Beach, Ho could have a chance at victory.
Ho has yet to elaborate on the deletion.
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