The Shasta County Board of Directors has “improved the provincial election processThe Los Angeles Times reported last week, “is terminating his contract with Dominion Voting Systems.” A supervisor said he investigated the services of Mike Lindell, the pillow supplier and prominent conspiracy theorist.
Shasta, a deep red county in far northern California, has proved vulnerable to causes that lie on the national fringe but are fueled by the forces that have supported Donald Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud. Militia members and other far-right activists led to the impeachment of an all-Republican district council member last year and have since won a majority, leading to the official confirmation last week of unfounded suspicions against Dominion.
The current state of QAnon and related conspiracy theories is no exception to the old axiom that all politics is local. Since President Biden’s inauguration ended efforts to keep Trump in office, these theories have trickled down from national to local politics, influencing local officials responsible for crucial policymaking related to voting rights, education and more.
The overwhelming, baseless beliefs known as QAnon portray Trump as a messianic figure battling an evil cabal of Democratic elites and Hollywood celebrities who rule the world, molest and murder children. 2020 fans merged to “stop the stealing” allegations that machines manufactured by Dominion somehow changed the results in key states. The allegations surfaced in some states where Dominion machines were located never used.
The focus on Dominion’s nefarious ballots and the alleged Venezuelan origin of the company — it’s actually Canadian — has become a mainstay of Trump’s refusal to accept the election results. More than two years later, such conspiracies still permeate right-wing politics below the national level. For example, at last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), speaker and loser of the Arizona gubernatorial race, Kari Lake, continued to claim that the 2022 election was stolen from her.
Such conspiracy beliefs have been promoted by far-right figures such as Lindell and Trump’s attorney Sidney Powell, and reinforced by right-wing media. Research I conducted found 97 QAnon-supporting candidates in the 2020 primary, with California, Florida, Texas, and Arizona leading the nation.
The campaigns and their supporters have been shockingly successful in spreading grassroots belief. Polls conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and NPR/Ipsos found that as many as one in three Americans believe key tenets of the QAnon conspiracy theory. The echo chambers of the far-right media have played a vital role in achieving this level of acceptance of fringe beliefs. Thanks to Dominion’s we know more about it $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit to Fox News.
After January 6, 2021, QAnon influencers focused on propaganda about local wedge issues, such as the content of K-12 education (specifically “Critical Race Theory”) and trans rights, implying that the study of race homosexuality and sexual dysmorphism includes Me and Sophia Moskalenko describes in our latest book on QAnon. Much of this propaganda appeals to a Republican base made up of groups where QAnon theories have enthusiastically embraced, including evangelicals.
Followers were encouraged to act locally to make the biggest impact. They were especially encouraged to run for local offices, including city and county offices, and especially school boards, pledging conspiracy theorists with promises to extend their influence to future generations. From Michigan to California, dozens of local elected officials have promoted QAnon conspiracy theories like Dominion. Another California county, Kern, retained its Dominion machines last week after much deliberation.
School boards across the country are now occupied by people whose social media feeds are filled with calls for “patriots” and “digital soldiers” to join the movement and prophecies that nothing “can”.stop what’s coming.Time magazine examined school boards in Michigan and Nevada and found, as one student put it, “right-wing conspiracies or radicals invading the most basic unit of the American government.” Aside from their local-level impact, these positions often serve as springboards for state and national candidates.
And beyond violating children’s education and the rights of transgender people and other minorities, these theories undermine our democratic institutions. It should come as no surprise that since its inception in 2017, QAnon has been teased by American detractors like Russia and China. Conspiracy theories about Dominion, stolen elections and an evil cabal spreading to the local level are echoed in Russian disinformation campaigns at home and abroad. The theories have the same effect as some Russian tactics during the 2016 presidential campaign, when its agents created fake Facebook accounts to turn neighbor against neighbor and incite protests and violence. On both sides controversy and undermines public confidence.
QAnon infiltration of local politics furthers the long-term global goals of malicious foreign actors. Only when we recognize the hidden motivations and roots of these conspiracy theories can we begin to vaccinate against them.
Mia Bloom is a professor of communications and Middle East studies at Georgia State University, a fellow of New America’s International Security Program, and co-author of Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon.
Source: LA Times