Condemning Qanon and Rejecting the Conspiracy Theories It Promotes

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution which condemns an extremist group known as QAnon.

I have to admit that I had only recently heard of this group, but I didn't know any of the details of their beliefs or tactics until this resolution was brought to us. But from what I have read, they are a delusional group that began with an internet post in 2017, and they hold the bizarre belief that the Federal Government is infested with satanic pedophiles who are busy running a global child sex trafficking ring when they are not plotting against President Trump.

Now, I am tempted to say you can't make this stuff up, but, obviously, somebody did make this up; and, given the reach of the internet, it is apparently being taken seriously by some extremists who are turning to violence.

Lest it get out of hand, it is appropriate for the House to speak with one voice on behalf of all of our communities across this great Nation in condemning QAnon and its conspiracy theories. It should be clear to every man and woman of goodwill in this country that this group seeks only to further roil our society and divide our citizens along lines of race, religion, and politics.

Even in this highly polarized political climate, I think we can all agree on this. Let me ask us all to do so without attempting to smear any party or candidate with the ravings from this, the lunatic fringe, of our society.

That term, ``lunatic fringe,'' was popularized by Theodore Roosevelt. He wrote this in his autobiography: ``Then, among the wise and high- minded people who in self-respecting and genuine fashion strive earnestly for peace, there are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it, the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements.''

He continued: ``As I have already said, there is a lunatic fringe to every reform movement.''

We have seen that borne out in the turbulent period of history that we now occupy, and how we deal with it will determine whether we can calm the political waters and restore peace and tranquility to our cities and civil discourse to our conversations.

In that regard, it is important to note that QAnon and the lunatic fringe on the right no more speak for the right than antifa and the lunatic fringe on the left speak for the left. Both are poisonous to our democratic institutions, and both are destructive of what Lincoln called the mystic chords of memory that should unite us as a free people.

So allow me to voice my hope that we will see similar condemnations of the lunatic fringe that has been given free rein in recent months to rampage, loot, vandalize, and burn so many of our towns and cities across the country.

QAnon and its allied groups are real, but antifa and its allied groups are also real. Both are direct threats to our democracy because both threaten to employ violence for political ends, and that is the very definition of terrorism. No free society can long endure if their acts of violence are excused, ignored, or tolerated.

Lincoln said it best: There is no grievance that is fit object for redress by mob law. To that, I would add this observation: Without law enforcement, there is no law; and without law, there is no civilization.

I would express the fervent hope that, before we adjourn, we will entertain condemnations of all groups on all sides that employ violence for political ends by name.

Wednesday night, the Rules Committee rejected a motion on a party- line vote that would have brought to the floor a resolution condemning antifa and its allied groups concurrent with this resolution. That would demonstrate that this House speaks clearly and stands united against all such groups that have wrought such division and destruction in our communities.

That is especially important when we survey the violence perpetrated by the lunatic fringe in Portland; Seattle; San Francisco; Oakland; Los Angeles; Chicago; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Louisville, Kentucky; Minneapolis; and even Kenosha, Wisconsin.

It is especially important when the mayors of these cities have withheld police protection from their own citizens, leaving innocent and peaceful shopkeepers and residents to the mercy of mob law and when prosecutors have refused to hold accountable those who have perpetrated this violence upon the American people.

There is precious little time before the election to take a stand clearly and unambiguously against all political violence and with one voice to stand with the rule of law and not with the rule of the mob. If we could speak together on this most important issue, maybe we could start to find our way back to other fundamental principles and institutions that have always united us as a people and made our Nation, in Lincoln's words, the last best hope of mankind on this Earth.

So, please, my Democratic friends, do not squander this fleeting opportunity to turn back from the perilous road we are on and reclaim the precious legacy our forefathers left us.
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Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCLINTOCK. I will close as I began.

Extremist groups on the right and the left that advocate violence as a method of achieving political goals threaten the very foundations of our democracy, and I fully support this resolution in its denunciation of one such group called QAnon.

But the American people can see with their own eyes where the violence on our streets is coming from, and I deeply regret that the majority is not willing to call out by name such groups as antifa or to acknowledge that such evil forces even exist. We must speak out together against all such groups, and I am deeply troubled that, for some reason, we cannot.

We need to know who is funding these groups. We can already see with our own eyes who is encouraging them.

We can see with our own eyes whose mayors have deliberately withheld police protection from their citizens as these extremist-driven mobs run rampant in our communities.

We can see with our own eyes those politicians calling for defunding police departments that are the only means of defense that our citizens have.

We can see with our own eyes those prosecutors who have refused to hold accountable those who perpetrate violence in our communities and who instead prosecute citizens who are desperately trying to defend themselves.

So, I am pleased to support this resolution, but it is no substitute for a clear and unambiguous stand against all political extremism and violence that this House, for some reason, refuses to take.

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