Politico: “Trump and his aides have made efforts to keep QAnon from becoming a prominent feature of Trump events for years. There had been a longstanding (though not always successfully executed) policy at Trump rallies to remove any signs or slogans relating to non-Trump causes, and QAnon merchandising fell into that blanket policy. But as the web of QAnon falsehoods and supporters continues to grow, Trump allies have increasingly viewed the movement as toxic. ‘If we let in one Q shirt out of hundreds of shirts,’ the negative press would be astounding, said one person close to Trump. ‘A picture that’s on the cover of New York Times, with a hundred [QAnon] t-shirts behind him, would be worse’ than him talking about QAnon.”

“Trump associates also told Politico that they had attempted to weed out any QAnon influences – both adherents and postings – getting close to him. As a larger matter, they have downplayed the impact that QAnon has on the MAGA movement overall. ‘Look, there have always been crazy people in politics, there always has been, there’s always going to be, and who gives a shit?’ said one Trump adviser. The attempts at creating distance from QAnon have been complicated, however, by the former president, who has refused to disavow the movement even when described to him as a conspiracy. During the campaign, Trump told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie that he knew ‘very little’ of the group except for their dislike of pedophiles. His non-answer was seen by QAnon adherents as a confirmation of his support… A community that once revolved around Satanic ritual-based conspiracies now seems driven by the belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump by a vast conspiracy of shadowy elites, assisted by voting machine companies, a slavish mainstream media, secretive government agencies, and, perhaps, the Chinese government. Unlike other QAnon obsessions, their view that the 2020 election was stolen – while not supported by any evidence – can not be described as fringe. A June poll found one third of Americans believe Joe Biden won the election due to voter fraud, and over one in ten Americans will never accept Biden as president.”