QAnon-Believing, Trump-Supporting Republican Challenger to Ilhan Omar Charged With Felony Theft and More. "Send This Trumpista Home."
July 26, 2019
By Mark Karlin
As Trump continues to make Ilhan Omar the target of his vile racist attacks, the GOP is apparently welcoming a follower of the ultra-fringe QAnon theory as a potential challenger to Omar. In June, Danielle Stella officially filed as a GOP candidate in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district, which Omar represents.
Right Wing Watch summarizes the demented QAnon cult:
QAnon is a Trump-era phenomena centered on a conspiracy theory that alleges that Trump administration insiders have been dropping clues, in the form of cryptic riddles posted on anonymous imageboards, about a supposed secret plan to take down the “deep state” and a worldwide network of satanic pedophiles said to include A-list Hollywood figures and top-level Democrats. Believers, who call themselves “anons,” dedicate themselves to decoding the posts. Early on, QAnon adherents claimed that Trump was secretly working with then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller to expose the Satanists.
People who believe in QAnon are increasingly frequent fixtures at Trump rallies. At a campaign rally in North Carolina last week, President Donald Trump praised a baby wearing a onesie emblazoned on the back with the “Q” emblem sometimes worn by adherents to the theory.
QAnon is another far right-wing conspiracy that Trump gives a nod and a wink too. QAnon followers are among the zealots at Trump rallies, often raising flags with a “Q” on them. With that in mind, Stella would be the perfect candidate to embody Trump’s embrace of the lunatic fringe of the right-wing.
The Daily Beast offered confirmation that Stella was a supporter of QAnon:
Stella went further on Monday, tweeting a picture of herself wearing a “Q” necklace in a tweet that was first reported by QAnon tracker and podcast host Travis View.
While Stella didn’t clarify the meaning of the necklace, her campaign account favorited a series of tweets from QAnon believers who took the necklace as a sign of support for QAnon. One of the favorited tweets included a series of pictures of QAnon believers at Trump rallies. Another warned Stella to “be stealth about certain symbols and things” — apparently a suggestion that she downplay any belief in QAnon.
Stella was promoted on the Fox streaming right-wing interview program, the Todd Starnes show, earlier in July. Although The Daily Beast later reported that a campaign aide lamely claimed that Stella’s QAnon support was a “ruse.” In a true Trumpian example of shooting a GOP politician in the foot, the aide said, “She [Stella] tries to portray herself as she supports it, but she doesn’t even understand it.” You can’t get much more Trumpian than that.
Meanwhile, Stella has a bit more on her record to concern voters. The Guardian reports that she has been charged with at least two thefts, including “stealing 279 items valued at $2,327.97 from a Target store” and also heisting a bottle of tick spray for cats and other merchandise from a Cubs Food grocery store. Both retail outlets are located in Minneapolis suburbs.
Meanwhile, in 2009 she was charged and convicted of a DUI and fleeing the police.
In the tradition of bigly Trump hypocrisy, The Guardian reports:
She has accused Omar of being a criminal for advising immigrants how to avoid agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She said in a tweet that any representatives who fail to “uphold the rule of law” should be ejected from office.
You can’t get much more hypocritical than that, unless you are the-Grifter-in-Chief.
The ultra-irony of Stella and Trump targeting Omar as a symbol of the Democratic Party (read racist target) is that both of them have shady, corrupt pasts, while Omar speaks for the values and strength of a diverse democracy.