- QAnon supporters believe that Trump will be re-elected president on March 4, 2021.
- The conspiracy theory is rooted in the discredited beliefs of the sovereign civic movement.
- It became popular among fans of QAnon after it was distributed on Telegram and Gam.
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QAnon followers, who could not head Joe Biden’s presidency in January, have now adopted a new faith to argue that the next legal inauguration date will be March 4.
After President Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021, some QAnon believers concluded that their conspiracy theory was a ‘lie’. But its most ardent followers were not ready to give up their conspiratorial beliefs, clinging to an absurd hope that former President Donald Trump would be sworn in later.
Using ever-changing goalposts, the pro-Trump conspirators now turned their eyes on March 4, 2021.
Where does the conspiracy theory come from?
The belief that Trump will be sworn in on March 4 is rooted in theories promoted by the obscure sovereign civic movement.
The sovereign civic movement is a very fragmented group of Americans who believe that taxes, US currency and even the US government are illegal.
A minority of them believe that laws do not apply to them at all, leading the FBI to designate some members as ‘domestic terrorists’ and ‘anti-government extremists’.
A central principle of the movement is that the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, transformed ‘sovereign citizens’ into ‘federal citizens’.
This conviction also goes so far as to reject the validity of any presidency after 1868, making Ulysses S. Grant the last valid president.
The ideas are esoteric and, probably, absurd.
“You really feel like you’re in an Alice in Wonderland world when you start going through the ideas of sovereign citizens,” Michael Barkun, an emeritus professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Insider. “It’s like you went down into a kind of rabbit hole in a parallel universe.”
Some sovereign citizens also believe that an obscure law from 1871 reveals that the USA has become a corporation.
The District of Columbia Organic Act established a single municipal government for Washington, DC. The use of the word “corporation”, which refers to an incorporated district, has led to the misinterpretation of this meaning that the whole US has become a business.
“Some believe that President Joe Biden is the executive of a bankrupt corporation – the United States Inc.,” said Travis View, a conspiracy theory expert and host of the QAnon Anonymous podcast.
The creation of an alternative reality based on a misinterpretation of small detail in an old law is typical of conspiracy groups, Stefanie Le, deputy research director of Media Matter, told Insider.
“They can create elaborate mythologies based on the smallest and least meaningful details,” she said.
Why March 4?
Before the 20th Amendment in 1933, all presidents were sworn in on March 4th.
It is set to shorten the “lamb duck” period between elections and the start of new administrations.
Since supporters of the sovereign civic movement reject all constitutional amendments adopted after the 14th Amendment, they do not consider this date change to be legal.
QAnon followers, who failed to get Trump inaugurated in January, recaptured the argument and rediscovered the next legal inauguration date.
They say that on March 4, 2021, Trump will succeed the last legitimate president, Grant, to become the 19th president.
Believers of the March 4 conspiracy think former President Donald Trump will succeed former President Ulysses S. Grant as the 19th President of the United States.
AP Images
Le told Insider: “Now that one of their most anticipated events – the inauguration on January 20 – could not come true, they are resorting to statements from other conspiracy theories.”
View said there is no clear logic to it other than the blind belief that Donald Trump is the chosen one to save humanity.
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts, while Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th presidential inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
Andrew Harnick / AP Photo
“Maybe we should meet again and storm the Capitol on March 4.”
The acceptance of conspiracy theories from other groups to contribute to a specific, imaginary story is not unexpected.
This is QAnon’s survival method ‘because their own predictions have fallen apart’, Le said.
The forums occupied by QAnon fans are now buzzing around March 4th.
Telegram and Gab have taken the lead, according to research by Media Matters seen by Insider, and it is widely circulated on 4Chan and the right-wing forum Patriots.win, the researchers said. The rumors also reached TikTok, reports the Independent.
The rumor mill of March 4 had real consequences.
This is especially true of the fact that Trump’s DC hotel prices increased for March 3 and 4. It is the only luxury hotel in the area that has increased the rates for those nights.
U.S. Capitol police, for fear of possible violent clashes, ordered nearly 5,000 National Guard troops to stay in Washington, DC, on March 4.
The National Guard’s troops are expected to remain in Washington, DC until mid-March.
Brandon Bell / Getty Images
Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, referred to the conspiracy theory during a hearing on the case.
“Some of these people have realized that the president was apparently inaugurated on March 4, 75 years ago,” he said. “OK, why is it relevant now? God knows. Now anyway they think, ‘maybe we should meet again and storm the Capitol on March 4’ … circulating online.”
A HASC Democratic Republic spokesman told Insider Smith saw the reports that identified March 4 as another turning point in the capital.
“The role of the Armed Services Committee is to confirm that military personnel are being used in accordance with their task and requirements,” the spokesman said.
Will QAnon ever give up?
Security is also expected to be high throughout March to anticipate the as yet unplanned speech on the state union.
Capitol police plan to maintain an increased presence due to intelligence indicating that extremists have discussed plans to attack the Capitol building during the speech, Politico reported.
However, experts do not expect the January 6 resurrection violence to be repeated on March 4.
Barkun, who had previously advised the FBI on security threats by extremist groups, said he was confident that enough attention was being paid to QAnon’s activities.
Also consider the doubt that there will be widespread violence. “I think the events of January 6 spurred a lot of Q fans,” he told Insider.
But none of the experts Insider spoke to believe QAnon will disappear anytime soon. It is common for conspiracy theory groups to deal with incorrect predictions by simply kicking the can in the road.
“They will construct increasingly complex rationalizations that move the events they desire into further and further into the future,” Barkun told Insider.