BlueAnon

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Donald and Melania Trump in Alabama, March 2018. The TV show The View had a segment on "a surge of internet chatter about the former fashion model's Alabama appearance under the #fakeMelania hashtag", relaying the conspiracy theory that the woman pictured here was not the real Melania. Donald and Melania in Alabama.png
Donald and Melania Trump in Alabama, March 2018. The TV show The View had a segment on "a surge of internet chatter about the former fashion model’s Alabama appearance under the #fakeMelania hashtag", relaying the conspiracy theory that the woman pictured here was not the real Melania.

BlueAnon (a portmanteau of blue and QAnon ) is a term used to describe conspiracy theories which posit Donald Trump's engagement in elaborate schemes to unlawfully seize or maintain control of the United States Government, independently or as the object of manipulation by foreign governments. The term comes from the blue political color of the Democratic Party, which is the major opposition to the Republican Party of Trump.

Contents

Etymology

According to the Columbia Journalism Review , the term BlueAnon was first coined sometime during or after 2016 and gained prominence in 2024; On the Media's Anna Merlan cites a definitive 2016 origination date. [2] [3] [4] [5] The name appears to be derived from media coverage surrounding these theories, in reference to the QAnon right-wing conspiracy theory and the color blue, which has been associated with the Democratic Party in the 21st century. [6]

Claims

Assassination false flag conspiracy theory

Some BlueAnon theorists have alleged that the attempted assassination of Donald Trump was a false flag staged by Trump himself. [7] [8]

Snopes has examined and discredited viral photos alleging to show Trump plotting with gunman Thomas Crooks, as well as claims that Trump was injured by glass instead of shrapnel. [9] [10] PolitiFact has debunked claims that blood which appeared to be coming from Trump's ear following the assassination attempt was faked with a blood pill. [11] Reuters has analyzed viral photos from the 2024 Republican National Convention that purport to show Trump wearing a bandage on the ear opposite the one that was shot in the attack and determined the images were doctored. [12]

Morgan J. Freeman
@mjfree
 X logo 2023.svg

If Trump & Elon’s “little secret” was to use Starlink in swing states to tally the votes & rig the election - an investigation & hand recount is crucial. Now.

November 10, 2024 [13] [14]

Other BlueAnon theorists believe Donald Trump rigged the 2024 U.S. presidential election by conspiring with Elon Musk to use Starlink satellites to change vote tabulation data and then orbitally detonated some of the satellites to erase evidence of the plot. [15] [16] [17] The claims have been investigated and discredited by the Associated Press. [16] They have also been rejected by CISA director Jen Easterly. [17] [13] Deutsche Welle concluded "there is no evidence that Trump has cheated in this election". [18]

Ivana Trump coffin concealment theory

Another BlueAnon theory posits that Ivana Trump was secretly cremated by Donald Trump to free room in her coffin to hide self-incriminating documents so as to conceal them from discovery by investigators. [19] The conspiracy theory began circulating almost immediately after Ivana Trump's 2022 death and multiple people demanded the FBI exhume Trump's grave to search the coffin for the allegedly hidden documents. [20] Snopes has rated the theory "unfounded". [21]

Other conspiracy theories

Other beliefs subscribed to by some BlueAnon theorists include that:

Propagation and influence

Following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania in July 2024, Dmitri Mehlhorn distributed an email to colleagues — which the Columbia Journalism Review associated with BlueAnon theorizing — that suggested that Trump "encouraged and maybe even staged [the assassination attempt] so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash." [2] Numerous social media posts to X similarly suggested the assassination attempt had been staged. [2] A July 2024 poll by Morning Consult found that approximately one-third of voters supporting the Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign believed the assassination attempt was staged. [23]

"... possibility -- which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally -- is that this ‘shooting’ was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash. This is a classic Russian tactic..."

Email from Dmitri Mehlhorn of July 13, 2024, [24]

In October 2024, the Lincoln Project produced a video advertisement promoting the BlueAnon theory that Silicon Valley executives were plotting to replace Trump with JD Vance as president of the United States, should Trump be elected to that office. [8]

The following month, in the 12 hours after Trump's declared victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, posts to X alleging electoral irregularities and questioning the disparity in vote totals between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections — which Wired associated with BlueAnon theorizing — peaked at 94,000 per hour. [4] It included one post by John Pavlovitz that received more than five million views. [4] Another post, seen more than 17 million times, alleged Trump "cheated this whole time". [15] On Threads, Wayne Madsen posted "I'm beginning to believe our election was massively hacked", while TikTok saw a surge of posts by astrologers alleging election irregularities. [5]

Percentage of voter groups who said "suggestions that the shooting was staged ... were credible," as reported by a July 2024 Morning Consult survey. Trump assassination CT poll.jpg
Percentage of voter groups who said "suggestions that the shooting was staged ... were credible," as reported by a July 2024 Morning Consult survey.

Propagation on Threads

According to Canadian political scientist Kawser Ahmed, Meta's social media network Threads is a "hotbed for BlueAnon conspiratorial content". [25] Taylor Lorenz has also noted that BlueAnon conspiracy theorizing has established itself on Threads. [26]

Coverage by media

BlueAnon as a sociological and social media phenomenon has been the subject of reporting by Columbia Journalism Review ("The Trump assassination attempt, 'BlueAnon,' and the X factor" [2] ), by The New Statesman ("The alarming rise of BlueAnon" [7] ), by WJLA-TV ("'BlueAnon' theories pop up as some on Left attempt to explain Trump's win" [17] ), by Rolling Stone ("BlueAnon Conspiracy Theories Explode" [13] ), by France 24 ("'BlueAnon' conspiracy theorists spread viral voter fraud claims after Trump victory" [15] ), by the Washington Post ("‘BlueAnon’ conspiracy theories flood social media after Trump rally shooting" [3] ), and by other media. [5] In 2024, HarperCollins published David Harsanyi's book The Rise of BlueAnon. [27]

Psychological impact of BlueAnon

According to Sander van der Linden, a professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge, some people are inclined to believe that Donald Trump represents an existential threat but are disinclined to think about existentialism and develop conspiracy theories as a substitute method of reconciling their belief: "I think people see him as the apocalypse candidate, and that leads people down the conspiracy path". [28]

Joseph Uscinski, a professor of political science at the University of Miami and expert on conspiracy theorizing, commenting on BlueAnon posited that "people take a lot of things on credit and don’t scrutinize them because they match how they view the world". [28]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Watkins</span> American conspiracy theorist and imageboard administrator

Ronald Watkins, also known by his online pseudonym CodeMonkeyZ, is an American conspiracy theorist and site administrator of the imageboard website 8kun. He has played a major role in spreading the discredited far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, and has espoused conspiracy theories that widespread election fraud led to Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He is the son of Jim Watkins, the owner and operator of 8kun.

Italygate is a pro-Trump, QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theory that alleges the 2020 United States presidential election was rigged to favor Joe Biden using satellites and military technology to remotely switch votes from Donald Trump to Biden from the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The conspiracy was also rumored to involve the Vatican. Fact-checkers at Reuters and USA Today, who investigated these claims, described them as "false" and "baseless".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of incidents involving QAnon</span>

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References

  1. ↑ "'Fake Melania' conspiracy theory about body double is 'deranged' says Trump". South China Morning Post. March 14, 2019. Archived from the original on March 13, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ingram, Matthew (July 17, 2024). "The Trump assassination attempt, 'BlueAnon,' and the X factor". Columbia Journalism Review . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Lorenz, Taylor (November 10, 2024). "'BlueAnon' conspiracy theories flood social media after Trump rally shooting". Washington Post . Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Gilbert, David (November 6, 2024). "Election Denial Conspiracy Theories Are Exploding on X. This Time They're Coming From the Left". Wired . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Loewinger, Michael (November 15, 2024). "Using Conspiracy Theories to Make Sense of a Loss". On the Media . Event occurs at 15:30. WNYC-FM . Retrieved January 30, 2025. The term BlueAnon, it first started being used in 2016 to refer to a loose collection of conspiracy theories about Donald Trump, conspiracy theories that he was a literal Manchurian candidate or a Russian agent who was acting solely at the behest of Putin. It's recurred several times since then in different forms as a reference to crackpot theories from the left... You quoted one man named Wayne Madsen, who you describe in your piece as a former journalist and documented conspiracy theorist who posted on Threads, the social media site, writing, "I'm beginning to believe our election was massively hacked. Think Elon Musk, Starlink, Peter Thiel, Bannon, Flynn, and Putin. 20 million Democratic votes don't disappear on their own."
  6. ↑ Milmo, Dan (July 15, 2024). "Trump shooting shows conspiracy theories not confined to right wing". The Guardian . Retrieved November 10, 2024. Conspiracy theories emanating from people with leftwing or liberal leanings have given rise to the term "Blueanon", in reference to the blue Democratic party. The term is a derivation of "QAnon", the baseless pro-Trump, rightwing conspiracy theory that a world-controlling satanic elite is operating a child abuse ring.
  7. 1 2 Ahmari, Sohrab (July 15, 2024). "The alarming rise of BlueAnon". New Statesman . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Ward, Ian (October 7, 2024). "The anti-Trump conspiracy that's sweeping the internet". Politico . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  9. ↑ Liles, Jordan (August 1, 2024). "Fake Photo of Trump, Gunman Thomas Crooks Planning Assassination Attempt Generated by AI". Snopes . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ Kasprak, Alex (July 26, 2024). "Rumor That Shards of Glass, Not Bullet, Injured Trump in Assassination Attempt Is False". Snopes . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  11. ↑ Sanders, Katie (July 15, 2024). "When Donald Trump was shot, the internet unleashed wild conspiracy theories". Politifact . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Fact Check: RNC video altered to show Trump with bandaged left ear". Reuters . July 21, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 Klee, Miles (November 12, 2024). "BlueAnon Conspiracy Theories Explode". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  14. ↑ Morgan J. Freeman [@mjfree] (November 10, 2024). "If Trump & Elon's "little secret" was to use Starlink in swing states to tally the votes & rig the election - an investigation & hand recount is crucial. Now" (Tweet). Archived from the original on November 12, 2024 – via Twitter.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "'BlueAnon' conspiracy theorists spread viral voter fraud claims after Trump victory". France24 . November 10, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  16. 1 2 "The Conspiracy Theory That Elon Musk Stole the Election Using Starlink Is Everywhere Now". Wired . November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  17. 1 2 3 Gaskins, Kayla (November 15, 2024). "'BlueAnon' theories pop up as some on Left attempt to explain Trump's win". WJLA-TV . Retrieved November 15, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Fact check: Did Donald Trump cheat to win the US election?". Deutsche Welle . November 16, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  19. ↑ Merlan, Anna (August 11, 2022). "Resistance Twitter Is Trading Bonkers Theories About Ivana Trump's Casket". Vice . Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  20. ↑ Rothschild, Mike (September 16, 2022). "Why Resistance Twitter still wants to dig up Ivana Trump's grave". The Daily Dot . Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  21. ↑ Liles, Jordan (September 20, 2022). "There's No Evidence Ivana Trump Was Cremated". Snopes . Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  22. ↑ Silverman, Rose (July 16, 2024). "How the American Left jumped on the conspiracy theory bandwagon". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Many Voters Blame Rhetoric, Media and Even Trump Himself for Conditions That Caused Assassination Attempt". Morning Consult . July 15, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  24. ↑ Goba, Kadia (July 14, 2024). "Top Democratic strategist pushed reporters to consider 'staged' shooting". Semafor . Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  25. ↑ Ahmed, Kawser (July 18, 2024). "How conspiracy theories polarize society and provoke violence". The Conversation . Retrieved November 10, 2024. Many might associate conspiracy theories with far-right politics. However, radicalization scholars have observed that "a more conspiratorial mindset has become more pronounced in liberal circles over the last eight months." Meta's Threads has become a hotbed for BlueAnon conspiratorial content, demonstrating that conspiracy theories are not confined to any single political spectrum.
  26. ↑ Duke, Amber (September 12, 2024). "The rise of BlueAnon". The Spectator . Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  27. ↑ Harsanyi, David (2024). The Rise of BlueAnon. HarperCollins. ISBN   0063360624.
  28. 1 2 Cumming, Ed (September 23, 2024). "How Trump assassination conspiracy theories went mainstream". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved November 16, 2024.

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