Louie Gohmert to headline QAnon conference led by couple who say McCain was murdered

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is scheduled to be a “featured guest” at an upcoming conference organized by a couple with deep roots in the world of the QAnon conspiracy theory and featuring several speakers who have promoted that and other debunked conspiracy theories.

QAnon believers allege that there are secret rings of celebrities and politicians engaged in the sex trafficking of young children. Believers in the conspiracy allege that Donald Trump has been waging a secret war on behalf of those imagined victims.

The website for the “For God & Country Patriot Roundup 2021,” scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in Dallas, Texas, lists Gohmert along with Republican Party of Texas Chair Allen West.

Also headlining the event are Gen. Michael Flynn and lawyer Sidney Powell. Flynn, who served as Trump’s first national security adviser, was convicted of lying to the FBI and later pardoned by Trump. He has emerged as a key public promoter of QAnon ideas.

Powell worked as a lawyer for Trump during the 2020 election and falsely alleged that Dominion Voting Systems flipped millions of votes from Trump to President Joe Biden. She is currently facing a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion.

The “For God & Country” conference logo consists of a cowboy hat adorned with the term “WWG1WGA,” an acronym for the QAnon slogan “Where We Go One We Go All.”

The event is organized by QAnon activist John Sabal, who calls himself “QAnon John,” and his wife Amy. The Dallas Observer described the pair as a “Q power couple.”

In a March 9 appearance on Andre Popa’s “Who’s A Badass Show” podcast, Amy discussed how she brought her husband into supporting QAnon and mentioned an alternate take to the reality of the death of Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

“When we met I was just further down that rabbit hole of 17 than he was. He knew about it, was looking into it, I just was further down it,” Amy explained. “I did open his eyes to some things and some other things he wasn’t aware of, like that John McCain was put to death.”

McCain died in August 2018 after being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017. The number 17 is considered meaningful by QAnon adherents.

Others listed on the conference itinerary have also espoused conspiracy theories.

Zak Paine, who podcasts under the name RedPill78, described the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters as a “staged event.”

YouTube host Jordan Sather promoted the false claim that the coronavirus may have been “planned” and said the outbreak happened because “the Cabal” is “desperate for money, so they’re tapping their Big Pharma reserves.”

In 2019 an FBI bulletin revealed that the agency now considers QAnon and other “conspiracy theory-driven domestic extremists” as a growing threat to public safety.

Despite this, several Republicans in Congress have expressed support for QAnon. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has posted pro-QAnon messages on her social media accounts and referred to “Q,” the purported anonymous leader of the movement, as someone “worth listening to.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado said in a May 2020 interview that she was “very familiar” with QAnon and that she hoped the theory was real “because it only means America is getting better.”

For his part, Gohmert has spent years in Congress making incendiary allegations and promoting debunked conspiracy theories.

In March 2019 he implied that there were legitimate “controversies” motivating the shooter who murdered 49 worshippers at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In September 2019, returning to the topic of mass shootings, Gohmert said they happen in America because children aren’t being taught not to covet, be jealous, or kill.

Opposing the impeachment of Donald Trump, Gohmert said in November 2019 that the inquiry would lead to dictatorship, war, and “communism” in the United States.

After he was diagnosed with the coronavirus in July 2020, Gohmert said wearing a mask “most likely” infected him.

Echoing Trump’s conspiracies about why he lost the election to President Joe Biden, Gohmert made the false claim in November 2020 that it had been “confirmed” that 10,000 dead people voted in the swing state of Michigan.

Gohmert later voted in January 2021 against certifying the election results ratifying Biden’s win and followed it up with a vote in March 2021 against honoring the Capitol Police who protected the lawmakers in the building during the Jan. 6 attack.

Several QAnon signs were seen at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and QAnon support has repeatedly been cited in court cases against those who attacked the building.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.