Since the very first “Q drop” in 2017, which predicted that Hillary Clinton was about to be arrested, QAnon has made predictions that certain events were about to happen. When those events don’t happen, believers concoct an elaborate explanation for why the predictions didn’t come true and move on to the next event, making many even more believers: a classic pattern among those who believe in prophecies.
Before Trump’s shooting, QAnon promoter Phil Godlewski predicted on his Rumble show to 200,000 followers that a “terrifying event” or “9/11-like event” would occur in the coming weeks. When Trump was shot, many of Godlewski’s followers were quick to claim his prediction had come true.
“My Q friend called me and told me that if this were to happen, I shouldn’t be afraid because it’s all part of The Plan,” said Jay, who asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his privacy. “When the shooting happened, my friend called me right away to tell me that ‘it’ had happened, the scare. He told me that it was completely staged, that I shouldn’t be afraid, and that I should believe that Phil was right, that his sources were correct.”
Jay says his friend then claimed that there would be a global financial reset before Trump was reinstated in November. “Phil has made many more vague predictions that have not come to pass, but since this vague prediction has come to pass, my Q friend is doubling down on the bet,” Jay says.
In at least one case, the shooting apparently rekindled a former QAnon supporter's interest in the conspiracy theory.
Amy, who asked to use only her first name to protect her privacy, said she’s known her friend Jane since they met in college 20 years ago. During Trump’s first term, Jane began posting positive things about the former president on Facebook, and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Jane delved deeper into QAnon conspiracies.
“Her posts became wild and unhinged,” Amy tells WIRED. “Speculation about deep-state-type conspiracies. She hated Democrats, Joe Biden, and the Clintons for huge and unhinged reasons.”
Over the past few years, Jane had largely stopped posting conspiracy theories about Trump and the deep state, instead sharing photos and posts about her pets. Then the shooting happened.
“Completely out of control posts, hour after hour,” Amy says, describing Jane’s social media content. “She fully and openly supported Trump. She blamed the shooting on a liberal in an alt-right shirt. She absolutely believes Joe Biden or the Democrats set it up.”
Katrina Vaillancourt, a former QAnon believer who has a book of her experience, says she believes that if she had still been under the spell, she would have doubled down on her efforts after the Trump shooting.
“I had assumed this was a desperate attack by the evil cabal using the tentacles of the deep state, including members of the FBI and Secret Service, and the fact that Trump survived is the closest we have to proof that God is on Trump's side,” Vaillancourt told WIRED. “I would be online at least four hours a day doing 'research,' and up to 10 hours a day if something really got under my skin, like this has.”