White House Press Secretary Says Trump Does Not Support QAnon Conspiracy Theories

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday that President Donald Trump does not support QAnon conspiracy theories, despite recent controversial comments he made embracing its proponents.

"I've never heard the president mention it. I talk to him oftentimes 10 times a day. Not once have I heard him mention this group," McEnany told Fox News host Sandra Smith, referring to QAnon, whose followers have espoused beliefs that Trump has waged a crusade against satanic cults composed of pedophiles and cannibals.

During a White House press conference Wednesday that was focused on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Trump offered encouragement to QAnon supporters.

“I’ve heard these are people that love our country,” Trump said. “So I don’t know really anything about it other than they do supposedly like me.”

During the Fox News interview, McEnany claimed Trump’s comments were about his supporters in general.

"He believes his supporters are good, hard-working people that love this country," McEnany said. "He's not in the business of 'basket of deplorable' politics. He doesn't talk about QAnon. He doesn't think about it."

QAnon supporters believe that Satan-worshipping pedophiles in the “deep state” are seeking to undermine the Trump presidency. Proponents have accused Democratic politicians and Hollywood actors of being part of an international sex trafficking ring. “Q” refers to an alleged government official who made an anonymous post online outlining the theory. There has not been any credible evidence to back up any of the claims made by the theory’s supporters.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation designated QAnon as a “domestic terror threat” in a memo last year due to its potential to cause extremist violence. Joe Biden’s campaign has criticized Trump’s comments on QAnon.

"After calling neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville 'fine people' and tear-gassing peaceful protesters following the murder of George Floyd, Donald Trump just sought to legitimize a conspiracy theory that the FBI has identified as a domestic terrorism threat," Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said. "Our country needs leadership that will bring us together more than ever to form a more perfect union."

Trump recently promoted a QAnon supporter, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who won a Republican primary race for Georgia’s 14th congressional district. Trump has called Greene a “future Republican star” who is “strong on everything and never gives up.”