NYPD sergeants union chief Ed Mullins appears on Fox News with a QAnon mug behind him

• Ed Mullins, the head of the NYPD sargeants union, appeared on Fox News on Friday via remote video with a mug placed behind him emblazoned with the symbol of a far-right conspiracy theory.
• Mullins refused to say whether the mug was his or whether he endorses the QAnon conspiracy in a call with Business Insider.
• "Our country is falling apart, New York City is in crisis, and the only thing the news media is concerned about is a mug," Mullins told Business Insider on Friday.

Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD's Sergeants Benevolent Association, appeared on Fox News on Friday via remote video with a mug placed behind him emblazoned with the symbol of QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory.

This isn't the first time Mullins has appeared alongside the mug promoting the QAnon conspiracy, which claims the world is run by a Satanic cabal of child-abusing elites intent on ousting President Donald Trump. The same decor accompanied at least two other video interviews Mullins did with Fox News this spring.

Mullins refused to say whether the mug was his or whether he endorses the QAnon conspiracy in a call with Business Insider.

"Our country is falling apart, New York City is in crisis, and the only thing the news media is concerned about is a mug," Mullins said.

—Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) July 17, 2020

HuffPost reporter Christopher Mathias tweeted that Mullins told him on Friday that the mug wasn't his.

—Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) July 17, 2020

Fox News declined Business Insider's request for comment.

Mullins has repeatedly appeared on Fox in recent months to discuss the Black Lives Matter protests and the police response, and regularly criticize protesters and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

De Blasio has sharply condemned Mullins on multiple occasions and insisted the union leadership "has only practiced division, they foment hatred."

"They do not try to help us move forward," de Blasio told reporters earlier this year. "They don't try to create anything good. I have no respect for the leadership of the SBA."

The QAnon theory, which originated in 2017, has attracted a devoted conservative following and several Republican candidates for the US House have either endorsed or voiced support for the conspiracy. Trump has actively promoted QAnon, sharing dozens of messages from QAnon-linked accounts on Twitter.