Share this page!

igorvolsky Profile picture
Twitter logo
16 Oct, 8 tweets, 5 min read
1/ I'm seeing headlines saying Trump "refused to condemn" QAnon at last night's @NBCNews town hall

But that's not exactly right.

Trump *legitimized* QAnon by saying he believes "very strongly" in one of its core tenets: fighting pedophilia

He knew *exactly what he was doing*
@NBCNews 2/ First some background: QAnon grew out of Pizzagate in 2017.

QAnon adherents believe Trump is battling a global network of evil elites, Democrats, celebrities who worship Satan and sacrifice children.

Trump is their God (which Trump proudly pointed out back in August)
@NBCNews 3/ Trump told @SavannahGuthrie, "they are very strongly against pedophilia. And I agree with that."

Asked if there's a Satanic pedophile cult Trump said, "I have no idea."

Trump isn't just refusing to condemn: **he is actively legitimizing QAnon & feeding the conspiracy **
@NBCNews @SavannahGuthrie 4/ So why is Trump's embrace of QAnon so dangerous?

QAnon adherents have already been connected to at least 12 violent plots or domestic terror acts since 2018.

Check out this timeline: theguardian.com/us-news/2020/o…
@NBCNews @SavannahGuthrie 5/ @FBI has declared QAnon a domestic terrorist threat.

The Combating Terror Center at West Point says QAnon "represents a militant and anti-establishment ideology [which] finds resonance with other far-right extremist movements."
@NBCNews @SavannahGuthrie @FBI 6/ QAnon researchers believe "If President Trump loses the election, some extremists may use violence because they believe -- however incorrectly -- that there was fraud or that the election of Democratic candidate Joe Biden will undermine their extremist objectives."
@NBCNews @SavannahGuthrie @FBI 7/ And because America's lax gun laws make it easy for individuals intent on causing harm and sparking political violence to obtain and stockpile the firearms they need to kill and injure people, the probability of violence is high.
@NBCNews @SavannahGuthrie @FBI 8/ Trump's decision to VALIDATE THE QANON CONSPIRACY creates a permission structure for QAnon adherents to cause violence if he were to lose the election.

And that's exactly what he's setting up.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with igorvolsky

igorvolsky Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @igorvolsky

igorvolsky Profile picture
9 Oct
1/ A sitting sheriff is defending the individuals who plotted to commit an act of domestic terrorism and kidnap Michigan governor @gretchenwhitmer

"I'm not even sure they had any part in it," he baselessly asserts, claiming that maybe have been executing a citizen's arrest
@gretchenwhitmer 2/ In May, Sheriff Dar Leaf appeared at a "American Patriot Rally-Sheriffs speak out" event in Grand Rapids, MI to protest @gretchenwhitmer's stay at home orders alongside some of the men now accused of domestic terrorism.

He says he doesn't regret sharing the stage with them.
@gretchenwhitmer 3/ Ironically while protesting @gretchenwhitmer's stay-at-home orders, he himself was, well, working from home....because, you know, he said he wanted to stay healthy: mlive.com/news/grand-rap…
Read 5 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
8 Oct
1/ Just to state the absolute obvious:

When Donald Trump repeatedly dehumanizes his political opponents, he is inviting individuals to commit acts of violence and take his hateful rhetoric to its obvious conclusion.
2/ We are all very thankful that this effort to kidnap @gretchenwhitmer was thwarted by authorities.

But right-wing extremists inspired by Trump's rhetoric *have* committed acts of domestic terrorism across the country.
@gretchenwhitmer 3/ At least 87 Americans have been killed by right-wing terrorists in the first 3 years of the Trump administration.

Here's a partial list of the terror incidents that Trump's rhetoric inspired:
Read 5 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
6 Oct
1. On Sunday @MrPeteAndrew pointed out that gay men were reclaiming #ProudBoys hashtag & suggested that we do the same

I tweeted out a great photo our friend Shelly Pate took of us (@shellypatephoto on @instagram) and the tweet really blew up
@MrPeteAndrew @shellypatephoto @instagram 2. A bunch of reporters reached out asking if they could use the picture in their stories about the trend, including @KalhanR, who did this great piece for @NBCNews nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-ou…
@MrPeteAndrew @shellypatephoto @instagram @KalhanR @NBCNews 3. We've all been under so much stress and anxiety given the uncertainty of COVID and the political chaos all around us -- many of us I think rightfully argue that social media has played a big role in dividing us, pitting us against each other... that's true, yes, but...
Read 4 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
22 Sep
1/ With Romney supporting a vote on Trump's SCOTUS nominee this year, pundits are proclaiming that a confirmation is inevitable.

Let me be blunt: that's total BS.

In fact, it's the same BS we were told in January of 2017 when pundits decided that ACA repeal was inevitable
2/ Nothing in politics is inevitable. On this issue, a MAJORITY OF AMERICANS are on our side. They don't want McConnell to rush through another nominee.

It's our responsibility to stop freaking the fuck out and start focusing on how to organize effectively in key states
3/ The good news is -- we know how to organize strategically. We've done it before -- and we won.

NOBODY thought we could save Obamacare in 2017/2018 -- but you know what, we did? And that strategy is a great blueprint for this fight.

So what did we do?
Read 7 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
18 Sep
"I've condemned every form of violence, no matter what the source is...The President is yet to condemn... the far-right and the white supremacist, and those guys walking around with the AK-47s and not doing a damn thing about them" - @JoeBiden at #CNNTownHall
@JoeBiden Not only has Trump failed to condemn armed insurrectionists and vigilantes -- he has *defended them* and *cheered them on* npr.org/sections/live-…
@JoeBiden And remember there is a *long list* of right-wing domestic terrorists who killed and injured Americans out of allegiance to Trump and his ideology.

Here's just a sampling: Image
Read 6 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
15 Sep
1/ New @ncri_io report finds ⬆️ in social media posts critical of police that include calls to violence

Left-wing extremists commit far less violence than right-wing extremists. But both are weaponizing social media & easily accessing firearms to cause violence. That's a problem
@ncri_io 2/ “It is overwhelmingly the far right — not the far left — that makes direct incitements for terrorist attacks...Far-left activity usually doesn’t extend beyond destruction of property — that being arson against police vehicles, sabotaging infrastructure and similar activities"
@ncri_io 3/ In 2019, right-wing extremists perpetrated nearly 2/3 of terrorist attacks and plots in US & committed 90%+ of attacks and plots between January 1 and May 8, 2020 csis.org/analysis/escal…
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get email notifications when new thread is out from this Author!

Check out other threads from this Author!

Read all threads by @igorvolsky