Election 2020
The Proud Boys and QAnon Conspiracists are Starting to Abandon Trump, ‘A Total Failure!’
Now that Joe Biden is president, the uglier aspects of Donald Trump’s presidency are beginning to splinter and fall apart because the “Storm” and the “Great Awakening” never happened. The military takeover that the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, and the America First militants had hoped for during President Biden’s Inauguration Wednesday didn’t take place and now they’re trying to regroup.
In doing that, these groups, designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, are abandoning Donald Trump’s side like fleas leaving a dead dog, and their fellow QAnon believers are following suit.
Their responses are popping up on Gab, Telegram, and other social media platforms.
When Trump lost the election in November, QAnon influencers, the Proud Boys, and other far-right groups stayed by his side, trumpeting his false claims about Biden stealing the election. The Proud Boys even, at one point declared “Hail Emperor Trump,” in a private Telegram channel.
But as the year ended and January dawned, the situation became even creepier: Several Proud Boys members urged Trump to “Cross the Rubicon,” and if you’re not sure what that means, I’ll offer a brief explanation, courtesy of The Week: in a colloquial sense, crossing the Rubicon” can be described as moving past the point of no return. That weighted term is worrying enough but can be especially ominous if it’s connected to attempts to overthrow the government. The phrase has a long history — it goes all the way back to the time of Julius Caesar, who violated Roman law when accompanied by a legion of soldiers, he crossed the Rubicon river into Roman Italy. That led to a civil war that spelled the end of the Roman Republic and sparked the Roman Empire. Sure that sounds good, but it led Rome to become an autocracy, giving Caesar near-dictatorial powers.
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Trump with dictatorial powers is frightening enough as it is. We can all breathe easier because this didn’t happen, especially since QAnon boards began reporting that Trump would declare martial law, seize power and serve a second term as president. Many believers thought he would do this on Jan. 6 and then again on Inauguration Day.
But the white supremacist tide began to turn on Jan. 8 after Trump, in a video, denounced the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
One Proud Boys Telegram channel criticized Trump as “extraordinarily weak” and lamented his “betrayal.”
Monday, the group switched that up a level, posting “Trump will go down as a total failure.” I’m quite sure that sentiment hasn’t changed since the former president didn’t pardon any of the group members who took part in the riots. On their Telegram channel, they seemingly harrumphed “At least the incoming administration is honest about their intentions.”
QAnon conspiracy believers, who lionized Trump early on “have grappled with anger, confusion, and disappointment” since the proposed overthrow quite obviously didn’t happen, the Associated Press reports. Their hopes of martial law and a second-term Trump presidency now dashed, many have now left the building. But even in the ruins of Trump’s presidency, they are being courted by the Proud Boys and other far-right groups, the Twitter user below notes:
Just today, I’ve watched various right-wing figures ranging from Alex Jones to the Proud Boys vie for The attention of the QAnon crowd who had their hopes for a big showdown dashed today.
The far-right see the Q crowd as rich with potential new recruits. https://t.co/mu6yIxoZQa— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) January 21, 2021
Obviously, for far too many of these people, Trump’s loss was a devastating blow.
“I think these people have given too much and sacrificed too much in their families and in their personal lives,” Mike Rothschild, author of an upcoming book on QAnon theory, told the AP. “They have believed this so completely that to simply walk away from it is just not in the realm of reality of most of these people.”
But actual reality isn’t a strong suit with these people. It certainly wasn’t with Trump either and it’s a happy occurrence that as his presidency fades away, these people will too.
I have provided these tweets below for a fresher take on what “Crossing the Rubicon” really means.
I don’t think those using the term “crossing the Rubicon” understand what it means.
Julius Ceasar crossing the Rubicon was the event that brought the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire, ruled by an all powerful emperor. pic.twitter.com/QiC4j0c5YP
— Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (@BePastafarian) December 20, 2020
Addt'l historical point. As I teach my HS History students, one reason Caesar succeeded in overthrowing the Republic is that his men pledged an oath to serve him, not the Republic. Thankfully, our military swears an oath to the Constitution. Trump's crackpots will not succeed.
— John James (@musicman495) December 20, 2020
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