President Trump is holding a rally in Ohio to campaign for Troy Balderson, the Republican running in Tuesday’s special election. Follow for live updates.
President Trump is about 20 minutes late, not that his supporters mind. They’re currently rocking out to Barry White and the Village People’s « Macho Man » and « YMCA, » among other hits.
The gym at Olentangy Orange High School in a key Republican part of Delaware County, Ohio, is packed, on the floor and in bleachers on both sides of the room.
It is very hot with air conditioning issues — a few people have been helped by paramedics in the lobby. If there’s air conditioning working, it’s not terribly effective.
Watch:
From CNN’s Gianluca Mezzofiore and Justin Lear
You might have seen people holding signs and wearing shirts scribbled with « We are Q » and « Q » at President Trump’s rallies in Florida and Pennsylvania this week.
Looks like at least one supporter brought one tonight, too.
So, what does it all mean? The signs promote an online right-wing conspiracy persona — who’s been targeting movie stars and the Democratic Party alike.
It was an apparent reference to QAnon, a group that originated on the 4chan messaging board around an anonymous user, « Q, » who claims to be a member of the US military intelligence. The group’s theory, among other things, alleges that several A-list figures in the entertainment industry and the government are involved in child sex crimes and a « deep state » effort to annihilate Trump.
Users on 4chan, Reddit and the more fringe 8chan devote their time to decoding the supposedly top-secret clues — nicknamed « breadcrumbs » — that « Q » routinely leaves on those channels. Then, they take action — online but also offline — based on a free interpretation of those clues.
What the White House is saying
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders recently addressed their presence at the rally.
« The President condemns and denounces any group that would incite violence against any individual, and certainly doesn’t support groups that would promote that type of behavior, » she said.
Watch more:
President Trump has been on the campaign trail this week, packing three rallies into five days.
He held a rally in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday. There, he told his supporters he wanted Americans to be required to show identification before casting their votes, claiming that they needed their IDs « to buy groceries » (Fact check: You don’t).
Among the attendees of the Florida were people holding up signs promoting an online right-wing conspiracy persona, who’s been targeting movie stars and the Democratic Party alike.
On Thursday, Trump traveled to Pennsylvania for his second rally of the week. In Wilkes-Barre, he defended his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month and decried the « Russian hoax » — comments that came just hours after his top national security officials decried Russian attempts to influence US elections.
He also told the crowd he’d use reverse psychology to get his border wall, saying that if he tells Democrats he doesn’t want to build a wall, « they’ll insist on building it. »
From CNN’s Dan Merica
President Trump is in central Ohio tonight to stump for Troy Balderson, the Republican running in the special election coming up on Tuesday.
Trump endorsed Balderson last month, and tweeted about him this morning.
Balderson is running against Danny O’Connor, a moderate Democrat looking to woo disaffected Republicans by pledging to work with Republicans in Congress, vote against Nancy Pelosi as speaker and tying himself to Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich on health care.
