Former QAnon Follower Apologizes To Anderson Cooper For Thinking He Ate Babies

CNN

February 2, 2021, 6:53 am

Followers of QAnon believe some absolutely insane things. There was no reason to think that people who genuinely believe high-level Democrats and the “Hollywood elite” are out here sacrificing children to Satan and drinking their blood—among many, many, many other wild things—would move from being a fringe group to being the actual problem they are today.

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Fortunately, as with any cult, members of QAnon can be deprogrammed. And with the 45th president losing his reelection and the prophecies of the ever mysterious “Q” failing to come true, some are starting to come back around.

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Anderson Cooper—who has been the target of Q’s bizarre claims on more than one occasion—spoke with a former QAnon follower recently, and there was definitely a moment there that added to 2021’s already rapidly growing list of “wtf” headlines.

The CNN host asked Jitarth Jadeja if he really believed some of the most extreme but core views of QAnon — specifically, the stuff about wealthy Democrats “worshipping Satan and drinking the blood of children.”

“Anderson, I thought you did that. And I would like to apologize for that, right now,” Jadeja replied, clearly uncomfortable. “So I apologize for thinking that you ate babies.”

It’s almost certainly not the first time Cooper has heard that theory, as QAnon supporters tend to spam the social media accounts of anyone they believe is involved in this imaginary Satanic cabal, but it seems entirely plausible that it’s the first time he’s had a sit-down with one.

“Was it something about me that made you think that?” the host asked incredulously.

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Jadeja explained that it was simply something Q said. Q mentioned Cooper early on in his “revelations,” and thus he became one of the names the group collectively focused on.

“Some people thought you were a robot,” he added.

QAnon has been a phenomenon that more rational people have struggled to comprehend. There’s this anonymous guy on the internet (possibly even more than one) who claims to be military or have military intelligence and know all sorts of behind the scenes things regarding high level politics and Hollywood, both past and future.

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And somehow, people simply believe him, despite the claims he makes never coming true.

As bananas as it is – I think everyone needs to stop and realise that man is millions of (mainly) americans. They are in the middle of a shared alternate reality. It’s a powerful drug.

— Stuart Barclay (@Dota_basketball) January 30, 2021

Logic goes out the window. They say “there’s no such thing as this many coincidences” and they have an excuse to everything you point out as illogical. And then they tell you that you’re the one brainwashed by the government. It’s maddening.

— c (@cheasays) January 30, 2021

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If it’s not a cult, then I have no fvcking idea what else it could be.

— Lyle Milton (@lyle_lmilton) February 1, 2021

Q shouldn’t be in congress, they should studied. They’re like a weird medical experiment that got loose. WTF is wrong with republicans embracing this dipshittery? https://t.co/F4NqkDBLLz

— SnarkyLiberal (@SnarkyL) January 31, 2021

My dad is a QAnon believer and I have really struggled with this. My grandma recently said “I know it can be irritating but he comes from of place of caring for his family and believes he has to save us all.” So much to unpack there. https://t.co/kueDHB6nDA

— Cassie Boness (@Cassie_Boness) January 31, 2021

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The whole thing is just…baffling.

The even crazier part to me is when the Former QAnon dude just says as a throw-away, “Some people thought you were a robot.” https://t.co/mGx7U2pKU0

— JEN KIRKMAN (@JenKirkman) January 31, 2021

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“I was so far down this conspiracy black hole that I was essentially picking and choosing whatever narrative I wanted to believe in.” https://t.co/Ba3b918IPh

— Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP) (@KSPrior) January 31, 2021

QAnon Guy: “I apologize for thinking that you ate babies.”

Anderson Cooper: “You actually believed that I was drinking the blood of children?”

QAnon Guy: “Yes, I did…Some people thought that you were a robot.”

And one of these QAnon people is now a member of Congress. https://t.co/c6cNPKeiyq

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 31, 2021

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If some can come back from it, at least that’s a good sign. But the fact that people are having to be deprogrammed from beliefs that have skewed this far away from anything remotely logical or feasible for humanity doesn’t speak too highly of where society is at right now.

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*First Published: February 2, 2021, 6:53 am