This past weekend, two promoters of QAnon conspiracy theories were given press credentials to Donald Trump’s MAGA rally in Sarasota, Fla.
The men took selfies with their badges, taunted journalists covering the event as “fake news,” showed off their wristbands printed with the movement’s slogan — “#WWG1WGA” — and generally reveled in the access they’d scored.
Not everyone was happy to see them there.
Trump’s press team said the two men,
Jeffrey Pedersen and his podcast co-host Shannon Shadygroove:, were not welcome, and had registered for the rally with “Red State Talk Radio,” a network that has sent people who, a Trump aide said, “appear to be legitimate” to events before.
Pederson and Grooove were later identified as QAnon followers by Alex Kaplan of progressive watchdog group Media Matters,
after which Trump’s team said they are considering a new policy to verify reporters ahead of events to prevent people like the two men from gaining access. On top of that,
they said they will continue efforts to tamp down on the proliferation of swag that promotes the conspiracy at Trump events and rallies.
“
Rally organizers make a valiant effort to dispel Q merchandise such as t-shirts, flags, and signs at the rallies,” said a Trump spokesperson.
Scott Adams from Red State Talk Radio said their network allows “show hosts to use our name, image, and likeness to acquire press credentials upon request.”
“Content of our individual shows and hosts is not necessarily an endorsement of our station. We support and endorse content in line with America First policies,” said Adams.
Trump and his aides have made efforts to keep QAnon from becoming a prominent feature of Trump events for years. There had been a longstanding (though not always successfully executed) policy at Trump rallies to remove any signs or slogans relating to non-Trump causes, and QAnon merchandising fell into that blanket policy. But as the web of QAnon falsehoods and supporters continues to grow,
Trump allies have increasingly viewed the movement, which holds that a satanic sect of pedophiles is secretly controlling the government,
as toxic.
“
If we let in one Q shirt out of hundreds of shirts,” the negative press would be astounding, said one person close to Trump.“
A picture that's on the cover of New York Times, with a hundred [QAnon] t-shirts behind him, would be worse” than him talking about QAnon.