You may have thought that Republican former President Donald Trump finally admitting he lost the election and leaving the White House just hours before Joe Biden was sworn in might change QAnon adherents' minds. If so, think again.
In the wake of the defeat of everything they have been told would come to pass, the ever-faithful conspiracy theorists have done the opposite of take the hint that they've been conned.
Instead, they're doubling-down: They are now convinced Trump will somehow be made President again on March 4th. Mark your calendars!
The new theory that states Trump will be re-installed is bizarre even for QAnon, a group that believes the world is run by a race of reptile-human hybrids that Trump and an elite group of patriots are working to defeat, among other truly unhinged things.
The new theory began circulating recently on social media apps with the hashtags #march4th and #19thpresident. If that second hashtag has you scratching your head, prepare yourself for some truly strange stuff.
QAnon's new theory states an act signed in 1871 secretly changed the US from a country to a corporation, of which Trump will become the 19th president.
Why the 19th president and not the 46th, or 45th 2.0 or 45th Part Two: Electric Boogaloo, or something?
Well it's all very simple, you see. The US became a corporation during the tenure of Ulysses S. Grant, who was the 18th president. So, naturally, Trump will be the 19th, as all subsequent presidencies since Grant are invalid.
It all makes perfect sense!
Now why is this all happening on March 4th?
Well, because that was the original Inauguration Day before the passing of the 20th Amendment in 1933, which according to QAnon is invalid because it was signed during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who secretly sold the US to a cabal of mysterious foreign adversaries.
But all of that, as insane as it is, isn't even the worst part of the story.
QAnon's newest obsession overlaps with the "sovereign citizen" movement. It holds that because of this nefarious transformation of the US into a corporation in 1871, all laws passed after 1871 are invalid—especially those that followed from the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to slaves in 1868.
If your brain is melting, you're not alone—most of the internet is slack-jawed too.
The moral of the story is, never underestimate the power of propaganda and disinformation.
Who knows what Q will come up with next?
Elaine Miles/Facebook
@doctor_kristinm/Threads
@PeteHegseth/X
The White House