'Conspiracy cult': Johnson’s new effort to 'keep the heat off' Trump has a familiar ring
As the Epstein files controversy continues to capture headlines, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is offering a vigorous defense of President Donald Trump. Johnson is claiming that Trump was an informant for the FBI in its investigation of billionaire financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, telling CNN that Trump considered Epstein's crimes a "terrible, unspeakable evil."
During an appearance on The Bulwark's vodcast posted early Monday morning, September 8, journalist Will Sommer drew a parallel between Johnson's defense of Trump and the far-right conspiracy cult QAnon.
Host Sarah Longwell — a conservative consultant, Never Trumper and founder of the group Republican Accountability — told Sommer that Johnson is claiming Trump "was on the side of the angels here," asking, "Is this real? Was Donald Trump an Epstein informant?"
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Epstein responded, "Mike Johnson is kind of trying to keep the heat off Trump here in terms his relation to Epstein. And he makes this remark that — I think at least in the Republican Party among the leaders — had never been heard before: this idea that Trump cooperated with the FBI or was an informant against Epstein. But what's funny is that this kind of harkens back to this really popular QAnon and sort of broader Trump grass roots rationalization of why we have these videos of Trump hanging out with Epstein, why they were such close buddies at one point."
Sommer continued, "And they say: Well, maybe he was an FBI agent or an agent of Q, what have you — going inside the Epstein organization to take it down, take down the pedophile ring from the inside."
The QAnon conspiracy movement emerged in 2017 during Trump's first presidency, claiming that the United States' federal government had been hijacked by an international cabal of child sex traffickers, Satanists and cannibals and that Trump was put in the White House to fight the ring. Q, the cult claimed, was the person giving QAnon information about efforts to fight the cabal.
QAnon viewed Trump as an heroic figure in the battle against the cabal. Past supporters of QAnon ranged from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) to Jacob Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli or The QAnon Shaman — who was among the pro-Trump rioters who invaded the White House on January 6, 2021.
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When Longwell asked Sommer if there was "any evidence to support" Johnson's claim that Trump was an FBI informant in its Epstein investigation, he laughed and responded, "There's zero evidence."
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Watch The Bulwark's full video below or at this link.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
