Why QAnon Followers Think Donald Trump Will Be Sworn Back In as President on March 4

Why QAnon Followers Think Donald Trump Will Be Sworn Back In as President on March 4

After more than three years of Donald Trump not taking down satanic pedophiles and the "deep state" working against him, losing the election, then failing to order mass executions at Joe Biden's inauguration, followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory are now claiming March 4 as the next significant date for the movement.

Supporters of the radical conspiracy now believe that March 4 will be the day that Trump will still somehow be sworn in as president, seemingly undeterred by the January 20 ceremony, after which Biden entered the White House, and all their other predictions since late 2017 having failed.

The theory around March 4 has been bubbling since January, as QAnon found new ways to suggest "the plan" is still in place—despite Trump no longer being president—and that supporters just need to keep faith.

Interest around the date re-emerged after it was revealed that prices to rent a room at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C on March 4 have been hiked to $1,331, more than double the $596 price for a guest room for most of that month and nearly triple the lowest cost.

The hotel in the capital has previously raised its prices on dates that are significant to Trump's supporters. On January 6, the date of the Capitol attack in which QAnon followers were a part of, it cost $8,000 to rent a room that night.

The latest prediction from the QAnon movement seems to echo that of the sovereign citizen movement, whose followers believe they do not have to follow federal laws or pay taxes.

The basis of this comes from a law they believe passed in 1871 which secretly turned the U.S. into a corporation. The sovereign citizen movement, therefore, believes that every president after Ulysses S. Grant is illegitimate.

They also claim the U.S. has been run by a group of shadowy investors since 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt ended the gold standard. The date of presidential inaugurations was also changed from March 4 to January 20 in 1933.

As noted by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), sovereign citizens provide officials with "hundreds of pages of pseudo-legal nonsense" to help back their claims if they are implicated in a legal case.

The FBI considers sovereign citizen extremists a domestic terrorist threat and their members have been behind a number of violent incidents. Many theories in both the QAnon and sovereign citizen movements are also rooted in anti-Semitism.

"They believe that March 4, 2021 is the start for the new Republic. March 4 was the start date of the new President until it was changed in 1933," Marc-André Argentino, a researcher who studies QAnon, tweeted on January 13.

"Why do they believe all of this? Well at the end of his Jan 7 speech Trump said 'Our incredible journey is only just beginning.' QAnon obviously latched on to that statement and they are using it to provide hope to their movement that no matter what it looks like in the media it is all about optics; because the Military and Qteam have thought of everything."

A number of videos from QAnon supporters stating their belief that Trump will return to power as the legitimate 19th president also exists online.

"Today, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. For this constitution," one woman says in a video from January posted onto TikTok.

"In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was created and signed. In 1788 the constitution was ratified, in 1789 the Bill of Rights was created as well, which is the first 10 or so articles in the Constitution.

"Now in this original document, the power was given to we the people," the woman adds, referencing a popular QAnon slogan. "Somewhere along the line, the power was sold from we the people to the federal government."

The woman then falsely states that Trump signed the Insurrection Act to deploy the military to help Biden from entering office—another claim widely believed and spread by QAnon, which gave "we the people" the power.

"So, what does that mean? It means that in March, President Trump is going to be the 19th president under the original Constitution."

pic.twitter.com/20lsZGS8y0

— Bad Legal Takes (@BadLegalTakes) January 25, 2021

Some QAnon followers are borrowing discredited arguments from sovereign citizens in order to yet again move the goalposts. They're absurdly claiming Trump will be inaugurated on March 4, because the U.S. was "incorporated" in 1871 and all Amendments passed after that are invalid. pic.twitter.com/W0c8QqiOqu

— Travis View (@travis_view) January 24, 2021

The March 4 date was also discussed by QAnon supporters over the weekend on Telegram, the encrypted messaging service favored by the conspiracy theorists who have been removed from other social media sites such as Parler and Twitter.

"God has planned all of this for many years," wrote Debie Brisco. "Got to love this president. Not much longer now. March 4 will be our victory dance. And I plan to dance in the freakin streets."

Telegram user BD posted in a QAnon channel in a thread discussing the Trump Hotel price hikes: "Urban Dictionary notes that 'March Fourth' is a holiday where you work toward achieving your dreams. Just saying."

However, not everyone was as sure that something may finally happen as QAnon predicts next month.

"Hey, question... Is Trump coming back or not? What's the deadline? Kind of exhausted waiting," wrote fellow Telegram user BK. "It doesn't make sense to me to continue to hope after 4th of March. Something needs to happen. Don't you all think the same?"

Trump International Hotel has been contacted for comment.

q
A person wears a QAnon sweatshirt during a pro-Trump rally on October 3, 2020 in the borough of Staten Island in New York City. QAnon supporters now believe that Donald Trump will be sworn in... Stephanie Keith/Getty

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more

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