Right-Wing Conspiracy Group QAnon Gets A Super PAC

There’s a new super PAC on the political scene this election season calling itself Disarm the Deep State. It comes from a major figure in the bizarre online conspiracy theory group dubbed QAnon – a group that believes President Donald Trump is carefully working to dismantle the so-called “deep state.”

The new super PAC was established by Jim Watkins and Benjamin Barr, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission last week.

Watkins is the founder and owner of 8chan, a controversial online messaging board that has established itself as a major messaging board for right-wing radicals. This includes a group that calls itself QAnon, a collection of individuals who subscribe to conspiracy theories spun by an 8chan user known only as Q.

Since 2017, Q has been leaving highly cryptic messages on 8chan; from this, users interpreted these posts as detailing an expansive operation by President Donald Trump and his team to expose and arrest members of the so-called “deep state,” a supposedly shadowy cabal running the American government from behind the scenes.

Supposed members of this group include a range of Democrats and left-wing figures, including former 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and billionaire George Soros.

Watkins and Barr are also members of Project Veritas, a controversial right-wing group dedicated to exposing left-wing corruption. The group has faced intense criticism for releasing doctored recordings on several occasions to advance conservative causes.

Although originally confined to the fringes of the internet, QAnon has been gradually finding a place within real-world politics. In addition to holding demonstrations, members of the group have also seen their tweets shared by President Trump and in 2018, one of the group’s leading figures, Lionel Lebron met the president and posed for photos with him in the Oval Office.

A number of individuals running for seats in Congress this year have also openly expressed their backing of QAnon.

QAnon’s new super PAC, Disarm the Deep State, hopes to source its funding entirely from individual donors while eschewing big money. Though it is unclear how the funds will be spent, the group’s website includes a list of candidates who support the conspiracy theory; it seems likely that the super PAC will seek to boost these campaigns.

The PAC’s website also states that donors will be “contributing to the development of intellectual ammunition to defeat Deep State operatives” and will be funding an advertising campaign that will be “noticed by people across the nation, from all backgrounds, at every walk of life.”