Tucker Carlson spent “all day trying to locate the famous QAnon” and found nothing

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has said that after an entire day of searching online, he and his staff were unable to “locate the famous QAnon”—that is, an online source for the widespread conspiracy theory about child trafficking.

The Quote

In a segment about disinformation amongst the U.S. public, Carlson said:

“We spent all day trying to locate the famous QAnon, which, in the end, we learned is not even a website. If it’s out there, we could not find it,” he began.

“Then, we checked Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter feed because we have heard she traffics in disinformation, CNN told us, but nothing there,” he continued. “Next, we called our many friends in the tight-knit intel community. Could Vladimir Putin be putting this stuff out there? The Proud Boys? Alex Jones?”

“Who is lying to America in ways that are certain to make us hate each other and certain to destroy our core institutions?” Carlson concluded. “Well, none of the above, actually. It wasn’t Marjorie Taylor Greene. It was cable news. It was politicians talking on TV, they’re the ones spreading disinformation to Americans. Maybe they are from QAnon.”

Why it Matters

QAnon remains influential in American politics. The FBI has called it a domestic terrorism threat. The conspiracy theory has also been linked to several murders and death threats against politicians.

Some QAnon believers think that on March 4, Donald Trump will be reinstated as president. In response, Washington D.C. police have prepared for possible violence on that date. Earlier this month, Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was forced to disavow comments she made on Facebook supporting QAnon as factual.

QAnon believers think that Trump is trying to destroy a shadowy international child trafficking ring of Satan-worshipping Democrats, Hollywood elites and lizard-humanoids that sexually abuse and torture children. QAnon believers also think that the mainstream media and “deep state” government agencies have tried to stop Trump from succeeding.

While QAnon is considered a socially destructive conspiracy theory, Carlson accused Democratic politicians, liberals and mainstream media outlets of being the main sources of disinformation in the United States.

“CNN itself has become a disinformation network more powerful than QAnon and far more destructive,” he said. Carlson added that the aforementioned groups regularly discuss racial justice in policing as a “smokescreen” to cover up larger questions about economic inequality in America.

The Counterpoint

QAnon’s online activity has quieted somewhat since President Joe Biden’s inauguration. However, there is at least one active QAnon news aggregation site where believers continue to post updates and discuss the theory. Discussions among believers have also occurred in more obscure chat forums.

Part of the reason for QAnon’s lack of online visibility is the fact that the largest social networks have banned QAnon content. In October 2019, TikTok joined social media giants Twitter and Facebook in announcing bans on QAnon accounts and content. The video-sharing site YouTube and crowdfunding site Patreon announced similar bans soon after as well.

But for years before then, QAnon theories spread on message boards, social networks and chat groups. Some of these sources may no longer be as easily accessible, but their ideas have stayed entrenched in some American’s minds.

Newsweek contacted Fox News for comment.