Roger Stone, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump and an early adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign for president of the United States, appeared on a pro-QAnon YouTube channel last weekend and told the audience that he hoped the conspiracy theory was true.
The QAnon conspiracy theory posits that Trump and his administration are working behind the scenes to uproot and prosecute a network of satanic pedophiles operating within the United States federal government, entertainment industry, business world and media. Followers of the conspiracy theory believe that cryptic riddles authored by an anonymous source—“Q”—and posted on far-right internet forums contain high-level intelligence about Trump’s supposed covert operation and clues meant to awaken “patriots” to the truth about their governments. The FBI considers the QAnon movement a domestic terror threat.
Stone’s interview on the QAnon YouTube channel comes at a time when several national candidates for office have voiced their support for the conspiracy theory. Media Matters has recorded 59 political candidates who have expressed support for QAnon; nine of those candidates have won their primary elections and at least one has a likely path to winning a seat in Congress this year.
On June 28, Stone appeared on “IntheMatrixxx,” a YouTube channel dedicated to promoting and encouraging the movement associated with the conspiracy theory as part of a larger right-wing media tour in which Stone has complained about his treatment during his prosecution and sentencing for repeatedly lying to Congress and obstructing its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and begged for Trump to grant him clemency. Operated by a pro-QAnon social media influencer who identifies himself as Jeffrey Pedersen, the channel has hosted multiple pro-Q politicians including Oregon’s Jo Rae Perkins and Florida’s Jessi Melton.
After discussing Stone’s woes, the hosts of the channel asked Stone what he thought of QAnon.
“I don’t want to put you on the spot, but I just wanted to ask your opinion on how this [QAnon] movement underneath Trump is helping him get elected and waking people up a lot of people,” Penderson asked Stone.
“Well, obviously I get this question quite a bit as I was traveling and speaking as much as I can. I do a lot of interviews and I meet with a lot of patriot groups and I always get the question, ‘Mr. Stone, is Q real?’ And my answer is always the same,” Stone said. “And I always say, ‘I don’t know, but let me tell you this: I certainly hope Q is real and there a number of indications that the information that is being disseminated has been of enormous value in this fight for freedom.’”
Stone said he has been “completely consumed” by his own legal woes, but that he had met many “great patriots” through the Q movement. “I honestly believe that if we hang together, we can save this country,” Stone said.
