The QAnon conspiracy continues to gain followers in the United States and has even potentially strengthened in the year since Donald Trump lost the presidential election in 2020.
The largest-ever study conducted into QAnon followers found that some 22 percent of Americans believe that a “storm” is coming, 18 percent think violence could be necessary in order to “save the country,” and 16 percent believe the government, media, and financial institutions are controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles. Each of these extreme, bizarre, and factually baseless views is a core belief of QAnon.
QAnon emerged in the depths of the Internet while Trump was in office, claiming that Trump was waging some kind of secret war against a ring of pedophiles with “deep state” collaborators. They think a “storm” will sweep this cabal out of power.
There were hopes that when Trump lost the election, this wild fringed conspiracy group would fizzle out. But despite major social media platforms banning QAnon activity, and despite the disappearance of its bonafide leader “Q,” and even despite Trump losing the 2020 presidential election, QAnon has not vanished. If anything, the conspiracy theory has gained traction.
The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) carried out four surveys in 2021. The report says that the share of QAnon believers has increased slightly during last year. In March, 14 percent of Americans were QAnon followers. That increased to 16 percent in July, 17 percent in September, and then stayed at 17 percent in October.
In terms of those who have doubted QAnon and those who have completely rejected the theory, numbers for doubters have remained fairly steady and rejecters have decreased slightly.
Doubters hovered at around half the population, with 46 percent doubting QAnon in March, 49 percent in July, 48 percent in September, and back to 49 percent in October.
Those who reject QAnon went from 40 percent in March to 35 percent in July, remained at 35 percent in September, and lowered one percent to 34 percent in October.
Close to 20,000 Americans participated in the four surveys, which used random selections of adults in every state.
The research lead for the project Natalie Jackson said that people from every demographic are susceptible to conspiracy theories. Jackson warned it is not only Republicans or the uneducated that fall for the theories, but also that some groups are much more prevalent than others.
More Republicans than Democrats believe in the conspiracy theory, and QAnon believers are significantly less likely than all Americans to have received a college education.
News sources play a huge role in becoming a QAnon follower. Those who trust right-wing news outlets, especially outlets including One America News Network and Newsmax, are a whopping five times more likely than others to become QAnon believers.
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