Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) blasted on Thursday President Donald Trump’s approving response to the unhinged “QAnon” conspiracy theory that alleges that Trump is on a secret mission to expose a mass child sex trafficking ring among Democrats, “deep state” actors in the government, and other high-power elites.
Sasse told the Washington Post that the conspiracy theory was “nuts.”
“Real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories,” the GOP senator said. “If Democrats take the Senate, blow up the filibuster, and pack the Supreme Court–garbage like this will be a big part of why they won.”
During a press briefing the day before, Trump claimed that he’d “heard” that QAnon followers “love our country very much” and mentioned several times how much they “like me.”
He refused to push back against QAnon’s patently ridiculous premise that portrayed him as a savior against a sprawling pedophilic (and even satanic) cult.
“If I can help save the world from problems, I am willing to do it,” Trump told reporters. “I’m willing to put myself out there.”
Followers of QAnon, which is rooted in far-right corners of the Internet, have been labeled “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists” by the FBI. The conspiracy theory has spread to the point where several of its adherents have successful won GOP primary races.
