Patel has often lauded the QAnon movement for its capacity for “research.”
“I’ve seen on Truth Social how skilled these researchers are, and I genuinely wish I’d had some of them during the Russiagate investigation,” Patel remarked in another podcast featuring a conspiracy channel. “I speak with the president frequently, and we’re both astonished at the intellectual prowess some of these individuals possess.”
In 2022, when Patel introduced a collection of children’s books, he shared an image on Truth Social of himself signing copies of one of his works, The Plot Against the King, accompanied by the overtly QAnon-related hashtag #WWG1WGA, which means “where we go one, we go all.” The narrative centers on a beleaguered King Donald and a sagacious wizard named Kash, who supports his ruler. The sequel, The Plot Against the King: 2000 Mules, features election-denial conspiracies.
Patel’s endorsement of Q has not been confined to Truth Social. Since January 2021, Patel has participated in “at least 53 episodes of 13 podcasts that have explicitly endorsed the QAnon movement and/or shared QAnon-related conspiracy theories,” as identified by researchers from Advance Democracy, a nonprofit dedicated to public interest research, for WIRED.
A prominent podcast where Patel frequently appeared is the Stew Peters Show, run by Peters, who has expressed antisemitic and antivaccine views.
When Senator Dick Durbin inquired during a hearing on Thursday if he was familiar with Stew Peters, Patel replied: “Not off the top of my head.” Durbin then reminded Patel: “You have made eight separate appearances on his podcast.”
In response to the discussion on his show later on Thursday, Peters asserted: “Clearly, Kash Patel is being dishonest. He certainly knows who I am.”
Patel’s swift ascent within the U.S. government, along with his possible promotion to FBI director, was interpreted by QAnon supporters as the pivotal moment they had long anticipated, when the so-called deep state would be exposed, adversaries rounded up and arrested, and public executions conducted.
Instead of perceiving Patel’s disavowal of QAnon as a betrayal, an examination of posts across platforms like Truth Social, Telegram, Gab, 4chan, TikTok, and X reveals that individuals on QAnon forums are defending his statements and commending his performance.
“THERE IS NO QANON, SO KASH TOLD THE TRUTH!!” a QAnon personality wrote on Telegram, referring to the erroneous belief within the movement that the term QAnon is merely a fabrication of the mainstream media.
“He essentially stated they are not conspiracies but rather the truth, love it,” a follower retorted.
