 So the view recently aired an interview with a woman from South Carolina. This is not necessarily someone who is overtly political I wouldn't say that she's apolitical the way that I would describe her probably is semi-political like she explains in this clip that She's been a lifelong Republican because her family's Republican, but she doesn't necessarily Follow politics that closely although she did kind of follow politics a little bit more over the course of the election But she's going to explain how she got rubbed into QAnon as someone who you'd describe for lack of a better word as Anormy and what she says here is actually not too surprising, but it's still really important and interesting. I was unintentionally Getting conspiracy theories. I didn't know that it was QAnon. I didn't know any of that, but it started on tiktok I've been a lifelong Republican my family You know told me growing up were Republicans. They're great people. They're wonderful people. And so I was never one that was into politics anyways and I just always voted red. I wanted to be like my family and that's as much as I ever thought into it Obviously when the election campaign started I started liking on tiktok more Trump things and So I guess the algorithm must have Changed it to where I was seeing obviously more pro top pro Trump videos and then it led into conspiracy things They started talking about like the child ranks and that grabbed my attention since I'm a mom That's where it started. Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting It's interesting. I mean I can see what you you could become a Trump supporter But you say that you were brainwashed into believing that Hollywood people where there was a ring of pedophiles and Including Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks who would you know kidnap these kids and then drink their blood I mean you must have watched Tom Hanks in the movies. I'm sure you've seen Oprah on television What made you believe such crazy nonsense? I Know it sounds crazy And so let me let me try to think of how I would explain this So when you start getting information from these these groups again, I had no idea The first place that it was QAnon It starts with something small. So child trafficking is real sex trafficking is real and it's a real problem So when I got just a little bit of information that you know, the government is doing bad things with these children it it wasn't starting off like These celebrities are Drinking these kids blood and I was like, yep, I'm gonna believe that it didn't start that way It was really small and you know, it it peaks your interest because as a mom I want to protect my kid I want to know everything and so I started diving in deeper I started asking people that I trusted about this information They would send me more information and it's snowballed to just build bigger and bigger and so eventually you get that huge crazy Bomb theory and you believe it, but it didn't start that way So this is actually really believable, you know, I I think that that makes sense You don't just go from point a to point Z like you don't start believing. Okay. I'm conservative I support Donald Trump Therefore there's just this giant ring of pedophiles within the Democratic Party who are worshiping the devil and eating human beings like You don't just make that large of a leap. I mean, I'm sure some people do but psychologically That's not the way that it works like you gradually Start exploring this conspiracy theory It usually starts with you know a grain of truth and then all that that takes is for you to water that and nurture it and with no time That little grain will evolve into a forest and you start believing the craziest shit That's how you go from point a to point Z and what she says is interesting now I wonder like as she says she was rubbed into QAnon. It's because she started watching tiktoks that were pro-trump so because she was already predisposed to Lean conservative at least culturally That's how she kind of went from point a to point B to point C But this makes me wonder like what about on the opposite side like if you're predisposed to be a Democrat do smaller stories Lead to radicalization just on the opposite side So for example like if you hear a story about someone who died because they couldn't afford their insulin Does that radicalize you to begin supporting Medicare for all more vociferously and vocally? I genuinely don't know like what I'm trying to find out is if there is a distinction between The fervor that these folks support conspiracy theories and political issues because there's a lot of support For policies like Medicare for all and you know the Green New Deal and everything that we support as leftists but is This zealotry that we see with conspiracy theories unique and I just like I'm really curious about the way That people fall so hard for this right is it as easy To radicalize someone into really fighting for Medicare for all as it is to dupe them into a conspiracy theory Like Cuban on and you know, I think that This is important to think about because if we want to de-radicalize these folks We have to learn how they became radicalized in the first place because in the same way that it took time for them To gradually become radicalized It's gonna take time I'd imagine to de-radicalize them. They're not just going to stop believing and snap out of it like that or most won't But we have to we have to try to bring these folks back to reality and turn them on To better policies and better politics. So I'm thinking about how if she was easily duped by you know The fact that sex trafficking is a real thing Therefore she kind of went down this Q and on rabbit hole Can we influence people to support policies like Medicare for all by sharing anecdotes? So the way that folks are dying because they don't have health insurance like Does radicalization, you know occur differently between the left and the right because if people are gonna get radicalized I want them to be radical about things that improve society and save lives not stupid conspiracy theories that are Just bat shit fucking insane Now another thing that she talks about is the way that it changed her relationship with her four-year-old daughter because a common theme That we've seen from these Q and on supporters former Q and on supporters is that it really ruined their lives It kind of like made them tune out society And furthermore she's gonna explain in this next clip what it took to snap her out of this cult I think that it made me Emotionally unavailable to a point with her and I'm gonna try not to cry I mean she was always taken care of You know, I would I'd pick her up from school and I'd bring her home and make her dinner bath her put her to bed But we didn't play that much I Wasn't cuddling with her and giving her I think the the emotional attention that she needed Because I was too wrapped up worrying about everything I Stayed glued to my phone in these telegram chats and and watching these Facebook videos And I just had so much going on that I couldn't I Feel like I couldn't be there for her the way that she needed me to be Well Ashley You're clearly emotional about this and you know you you did believe these conspiracy theories for many months But you say that when Biden was inaugurated you started to see the truth and I just want to tell you I think it's brave that you're sharing this story because I think we need to understand how people get radicalized and how to stop It from happening. Thank you Leading into an auguration day It had been going around in the groups that there would be a blackout Electricity might not work. There would be an emergency broadcasting alarm go off And so I prepared I I went and got groceries and filled my car up with gas and I Just waited for days for that alarm to go off and it never did So come inauguration day I Really didn't think it was gonna happen. I didn't sleep that night and I stayed glued to my phone I kept watching the TV watching the inauguration and when I saw Kamala Harris get sworn in I was like, okay they're cutting it really close and And then when President Biden was getting sworn in I Mean I just started to have tears and I was like I'm waiting. I'm waiting for the TV to turn off I'm waiting to hear this alarm and it didn't happen and I Was devastated after that. I was scared to death. I thought So my worst fear is in my worst nightmare is coming true and we're seeing the funeral of the country Nobody safe. We're all gonna die I need to take my kid out of school because they're gonna take her and There's just there's so much anxiety and fear It's hard to it's hard to explain that So I find this fascinating because she literally just like a month ago left the Q and on colt and She already sounds like a relatively normal well-adjusted person It's interesting the way that these folks so quickly go From being radicalized by QAnon and then just coming out of it. That's that's really fascinating to me And I do want to explore this and learn How their brains work, you know, does it take a certain person like do you have to be predisposed to think in a more conspiratorial way to fall that fast and You know, will certain people be deraticalized quicker like this is all fascinating to me one thing that stood out to me is she says that since the conspiracy theory was inextricably linked to Donald Trump and his cult of personality if He were to denounce QAnon or even just like shoot down some of the lies if he explicitly said QAnon is false. And of course, there's no like pedophile ring where Democrats are drinking the blood of infants and worshiping the devil She would have at least, you know, snapped out of it. It wouldn't have been, you know The saving thing for everyone in QAnon But a lot of them would have listened to Donald Trump and it's so weird to me that this group of conspiracy theorists they coalesced around Donald Trump because they believed that this man This individual who's been accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment by dozens of women who was friends with Jeffrey Epstein He's gonna be the individual who stops sex trafficking in the United States It just it doesn't make sense to me like there's still so much like we're learning more about QAnon How people are radicalized the impact that it has on them socially speaking But it's still like so much of it just doesn't make sense to me It just doesn't it's like, you know joining a pro-Bernie cult, but being against Medicare for all like Donald Trump is the worst possible person That I think would like will be reliable in cracking down on sex trafficking and sex crimes But he was like that was his number one issue and it was just a matter of time before he arrested everyone in DC It's a lot I'm still trying to digest all of the information that we've received I don't know how valuable this is like I believe this is important. I think we need to learn From these folks's experiences so we can like make sure we prevent others from being radicalized into these sorts of weird cults But still it's it's a really difficult thing to understand And I don't think that these like anecdotes from individual like former QAnon supporters are going to work like I actually want to see Clinical studies done because I think this is really the question of our time like conspiracy theories They're not going to go away. We saw an increase in anti-vax sentiment Since people online just seek out their own little like anti-vax clicks and whatnot So since this is going to be something that is prevalent for the foreseeable future How do we get people to think more critically? You know want a higher standard when it comes to evidence, you know, I just I don't know It's tricky. I don't know if there's an answer for us in the short term But long term I hope that we can learn from this and figure out a way to protect people From this sort of misinformation that is absolutely devastating and harmful to their own lives and to society at large