On December 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch took an assault rifle into a Washington, D.C., pizza joint and fired three times. Why? He believed there was a secret pedophilia ring in the basement run by Hilary Clinton.
The world of conspiracy theories and theorists have always existed in American history, but as this realm has grown, ignoring it would “require willful blindness,” according toThe Atlantic editor Adrienne LaFrance. In a new piece titled “The Prophecies of Q,” LaFrance lays out the conspiracy theory known as QAnon, which its adherents believe is a deep state plot against Donald Trump and his supporters, as well as a child sex-trafficking network run by Democrats. We’ll look at QAnon, what conspiracy theories mean now, what drives these theories and how important they really are.
GUESTS:
- Adrienne LaFrance, executive editor of The Atlantic.
- Joseph Uscinski, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami
