Barkun comments on QAnon's March 4 failure in Business Insider article

March 5, 2021

Business Insider

Michael Barkun

Political Science Department

Government

Media & Journalism

Political Parties

United States

Business Insider

Michael Barkun

QAnon followers believed that former President Donald Trump would be reinstated as president on March 4 but that date turned out to be fruitless for believers of the conspiracy theory. "QAnon is dealing with a very difficult cognitive-dissonance situation," says Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science. "Whether it's some date in March or whether ultimately it will be a second Trump term after an election in 2024," he says, "there will be some further set of explanations and a further set of dates." Barkun was quoted in the Insider article, "Trump's fake inauguration on March 4 was QAnon's latest vision that flopped. A new date is now being peddled to perpetuate the mind games."