White House chief of staff sparred with Fox News' Chris Wallace over QAnon days after Trump touted support for conspiracy group
Aug 24, 2020, 03:55 IST
- White House chief of staff Mark Meadows got into a heated exchange with Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" over QAnon.
- Days after President Donald Trump said in a White House press briefing that followers of the right-wing conspiracy group "love our country," Wallace pressed Meadows on the group the FBI has labeled a domestic terror threat.
- "Does the president disavow, does he condemn QAnon?" Wallace asked.
- Meadows told Wallace he finds it "appalling" that he brought up the topic when there is a litany of other issues to address, claiming he had to use Google to actually "figure out what it is."
- The conspiracy movement, which has been tied to several violent incidents and believes without evidence that Trump is fighting an evil "deep state" of elite figures, is not a "top 20 priority" for the administration, Meadows said.
- "If you want to talk about conspiracies, let's get back to talking about how the FBI and others within the FBI spied on the Trump campaign," Meadows said. "If it's a hate group, I can tell you this president is not for hate!"
- In addition to Trump's public embrace of QAnon, the conspiracy group has hit the mainstream and found public support from multiple congressional hopefuls.
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