As Trump’s impeachment trial continues, more of his supporters are turning on him… and, apparently, each other.
Jacob Chansley — the QAnon Shaman currently whining about the lack of organic meals while being jailed for his part in the Jan. 6th insurrection — is the subject of most of the discourse on right-wing message boards today. And that discourse? It’s pissed, as are plenty of QAnon members who are scrambling to come up with new conspiracy theories as to why one of their most prominent leaders is now denouncing Trump. (The 10-year jail sentence he’s facing might have something to do with it, but hey, what do we know?)
Chansley recently offered to testify against Trump during the Senate’s impeachment trial and his lawyer seems to be framing his defense strategy by painting his client as just another victim of Trump’s incendiary remarks on that fateful day. But the QAnon believers aren’t having it. According to a Vice report, the group is livid at how quickly Chansley turned on their supreme leader, calling him a “rat sack of sh*t” and speculating if the fed bought him off.
“Very staged like he was bought,” one Instagram user commented. “Never saw someone like him just walk into the chambers with a cop there and ask if he could go up there for a picture and no fight back from the cops. Cop just said don’t damage anything. Very weird to me. A lot of staged photo opps for this cat.”
(Maybe because he was dressed like a Simpson’s character and the Capitol was already overrun by that point? But again, what do we know?)
Others on social media had more interesting ideas about why their guy turned on Trump, ideas that ranged from Chansley being some kind of “super-soldier” who hailed from the highest levels of government — in reality he only served two years in the Navy as a supply clerk — to believing he had simply distracted police so insurrectionist could steal valuable intel from the Capitol. One user wrote that Chansley kept the cops occupied while “the other white hat guys grabbed 12 laptops..which Pelosi is freaking about” and believes he’s still on their side, claiming “Shaman guy is a good guy..related to Kennedys.”
Still more believe the QAnon Shaman was never really a true believer. “In The Matrixx,” a leader in QAnon circles, accused Chansley of being a spy for CNN of all things, claiming his attendance at rallies and conferences over the last few years was just part of a long-game being played by the liberal media. Of course, none of these conspiracies have been backed up with any evidence, but hey, if QAnon wants to tear itself apart by spreading lies and misinformation about its own members, we’re pretty sure they’d argue that’s their constitutional right. We’ll just be over here with the popcorn.
(Via Vice)