RNC's Ronna McDaniel spars with ABC host over QAnon question
'It has absolutely nothing to do with this election,' the RNC chairwoman said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel sparred with ABC's George Stephanopoulos after he accused her of refusing to condemn the conspiracy theory QAnon.
FEDERAL AGENT CHARGED WITH MAKING QANON CONSPIRACY-RELATED THREATS AGAINST SUPERIOR
"I knew you were going to ask me that question because it's something that voters are not even thinking about," McDaniel said on "This Week." "It's a fringe group. It's not part of our party. The vice president said I dismiss it out of hand. The president said you know what, I don't know anything about this group."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It has absolutely nothing to do with this election," McDaniel continued. "Antifa is burning down cities right now. ... This is crazy, George. The American people are worrying about the stimulus package [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi is holding up."
QAnon is a conspiracy theory centered on the baseless belief that President Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals.
QAnon supporters refer to “The Storm” often, which is a reference to an October 2017 meeting between Trump and military leaders during which Trump said, “the calm before the storm.” During the so-called “storm,” thousands of deep state operatives and top Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and President Obama, will allegedly be rounded up and sent to Guantanamo Bay, the theory states.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}McDaniel's uncle, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, criticized Trump after the president said he knew "nothing" about QAnon during Thursday's NBC town hall.
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"I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight it very hard but I know nothing about it," Trump said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The President's unwillingness to denounce an absurd and dangerous conspiracy theory last night continues an alarming pattern: politicians and parties refuse to forcefully and convincingly repudiate groups like antifa, white [supremacists], and conspiracy peddlers," Romney said in a statement on Friday.
Fox News' Emily DeCiccio contributed to this report.