This was amazing.
On Gab, Telegram, 8kun, and other racist, alternative media, QAnon groups were salivating over Inauguration Day. They used popcorn emojis and had watch parties to witness the “storm” happening in real-time. This would be when Donald Trump would unleash the military to come in and arrest all the Democrats and install himself as God Emperor over America. Some had even hoped for public executions or other bloodshed. This was the moment.
“WELCOME TO THE GRAND FINALE!!!” someone cheered in a 185,000-member Gab group. “Anyone else wanna puke with excitement?!?!?!” another person asked amid a rapid stream of messages coursing through a 34,000-member Telegram channel.
Others salivated over the idea of decapitations and sexual violence against prominent Democrats. Several messages were too grotesque to publish.
Yeah, these are sick f***s.
But then Kamala Harris got sworn in. Then Joe. Then, some celebrating in Washington.
That’s when the comments turned hilarious.
“Popcorn getting cold!”
“Where’s the storm?!”
“Anytime now!”
“When do the arrests start?”
“I can’t stop crying!”
“I don’t think this is supposed to happen!”
Then reality.
QAnon did not take it well….
The comment threads are filled with despair. Many people realizing this was all … stupid. Several commenters didn’t know what to do; they had given up their families, jobs, and regular lives to devote themselves to this cult. And now it was over.
A few threads doubled down. Some said the Inauguration was a “deep fake” and Trump is really in control. Others said Joe Biden was secretly working for Trump the whole time. Others said Trump needed to step down to have time to work on his big secret plan. For a lot of people, however, this was the breaking point.
This woman woke up from the cult, and admitted feeling really silly about it.
Others, however, cried like this:
Cry more.
I have no sympathy whatsoever. ZERO. I think of children locked in cages, permanently separated from their parents. I think of her deep racism, when she cries about “this is OUR country”—meaning it should not be shared with brown or Black people.
I swim in your tears. They are delicious.