But many have extrapolated the breadcrumbs supposedly left behind by the deep state agent (or agents) to mean that Hollywood celebrities are engaged in a widespread pedophilia ring; that bad actors once tried to shoot down Air Force One with Trump aboard — and other evidence-free notions. Rather, Mueller was appointed by Trump to investigate Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and other top Democrats, like former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. Who Is “Q”? In late October 2017, an anonymous user posted on 4chan, a shadowy site known for, among other things, cruel hoaxes and political extremism. Under the title "The Calm Before the Storm," the poster claimed to have a high-level government security clearance — Q clearance to be exact — and referred to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, George Soros, political parties and former President Barack Obama. Or maybe, as with so many things these days, it's a Russian psy-op! QAnon people believe in fanciful ideas like, maybe it's Trump or Dan Scavino or Michael Flynn. In April, hundreds of QAnon believers staged a march in downtown Washington, D.C. with a vague demand for “transparency” from the Justice Department. Buzzfeed reported that a man was arrested in June after he drove to the Hoover Dam in an armored truck to demand that the government release "the OIG report," a calling card of QAnon supporters. Sommer: There's actually been increasing Q believer activity all over this year -- billboards popping up, more attention from conservative celebrities [Editor's note: Like : There's actually been increasing Q believer activity all over this year -- billboards popping up, more attention from conservative celebrities [Editor's note: Like Roseanne and Curt Schilling ], people appearing at Trump rallies. Usually, “conspiracy theories are for losers,” Uscinski said, 
 
 “Normally you don’t expect the winning party to use them, except when they’re in trouble,” Uscinski said. (The military is also involved in the QAnon theory — according to "Q," the military persuaded Trump to run for president in order to clean up the vast criminal network.) Q and the QAnon supporters refer to "The Storm" often, which is a reference to an October 2017 meeting between Trump and military leaders during which Trump said, "the calm before the storm." QAnon supporters have even claimed Trump uses his hands to make a “Q” sign as a signal to them. Q hyped up the release of the Justice Department’s inspector general report on the FBI’s Hillary Clinton email investigation, for example, promising that it would contain the promised “Storm” of revelations about top Democrats and the deep state. But QAnon has been a hit with older Trump supporters, leading to tech-illiterate baby boomers looking to spread the QAnon gospel asking for help in internet forums on “how to meme.” 
 
 Nine months after it started, QAnon world has accumulated an internal language of its own.
– "Q WWG1WGA Trump 2020 Keep America Great! MSM is the enemy," read the sign spotted by the AP at President Trump's rally in Tampa on Tuesday night. There are plenty of letters on it, but one stands out: Q. NPR reports that other signs and T-shirts read "QAnon," a reference to a conspiracy theory that's picking up steam on the far-right and beginning to garner enough attention that it came up during the White House press briefing Wednesday. What you need to know: There actually is a Q: "Q" began posting to 4Chan in October 2017 and then shifted to "the even more fringe" 8Chan as well, per the Daily Beast. "Q" happens to be a type of high-level government security clearance, which Q claims to have. The "Anon" part is apparently a reference to both the anonymous Q (who uses the plural "we") and doubles as a reference to Q's fans: the Anons. The lingo doesn't stop there: Q is purportedly disseminating top-secret info via "breadcrumbs," which the Daily Beast characterizes as "part poem, part ransom note"; "bakers" follow the crumbs. "No name" is John McCain, "clowns" are those who try to undermine Q. A breadcrumb: The Beast gives this example, posted in June: "Think SC vote to confirm (coming). / No Name action. / Every dog has its day. / Enjoy the show. / Q" The conspiracy theory: Thanks to that government clearance, Q claims to know about a "worldwide criminal conspiracy," which NPR reports revolves around Robert Mueller—who, per Q, isn't investigating Trump's campaign or the 2016 election at all. Rather, he was put in place by Trump to investigate Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and other Democrats, with some (like Huma Abedin) supposedly being tracked via secret wearable location devices in advance of the coming "storm": when they'll all go to prison for crimes Q followers believe could be anything from participating in a pedophile ring to having a secret pact with Vladimir Putin. The conspiracy theory, II: To show how wide-ranging things get, the AP writes, "filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the Rothschild family, and Satan also make appearances in discussions." Another element: the belief that JP Morgan was behind the sinking of the Titanic. The Tampa Bay Times cites one Q proponent as saying Trump's misspellings in his tweets are clues. CNN adds that the fact that Trump used the number "17" on a number of occasions in his speech Tuesday night fired up clue-seeking Anons, who noted Q is the alphabet's 17th letter. Background on "the storm": In an October 2017 meeting between Trump and military leaders (who, per QAnon thinking, urged Trump to run for president in order to go after the aforementioned criminals), Trump made reference to "the calm before the storm." The high-profile follower: Roseanne Barr is an "Anon," just not an anonymous one: She's tweeted about QAnon a number of times, including this in late June: "we r the army of truth-wwg1wga." The "wwg1wga," stands for "where we go one, we go all." (Side note from the AP: Valerie Jarrett, the subject of Barr's now infamous tweet, plays a role in some QAnon theories.) Why QAnon is getting more press this week: The Washington Post says Tuesday's Tampa event highlighted the fact that QAnon isn't just relegated to the corners of the internet at this point. The White House response: CNN reports QAnons have been pushing for the press to ask Sarah Sanders about Q, which apparently happened Wednesday. Her reply: "The president condemns and denounces any group that would incite violence against any individual."