May 28, 2024 | USA Today

Trump is promoting QAnon online, “playing with fire” ahead of US elections

ISD Senior Research Analyst Jared Holt spoke to USA Today about former President Donald Trump’s online activity pushing elements of the disproven QAnon conspiracy ahead of the November elections.

“I think it’s almost to be expected that – especially with the polling being close – that the Trump campaign is going to be back to its old tricks of trying to … cater to some of the conservative movement’s fringes,” Jared said, emphasising that it’s a dangerous strategy at a time when the nation is so polarized.“It’s playing with fire,” he said.

This comes following reports that Trump has shared or promoted QAnon-affiliated accounts more than 800 times on his platform Truth Social since it launched two years ago.