In 2016, a right-wing goon from North Carolina shot a gun into a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C. His motivation was the belief a Satanic deep state cabal led by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was operating a child sex slave ring out of a basement of the restaurant. This was the beginning of the conspiracy theory cult Qanon.

Qanon believes Donald Trump was on a mission to uncover and destroy that Satanic cult of deep state Democrats engaged in pedophilia. Some Qanon followers believe Democrats either eat the babies or drink their blood. Others believe the deep state consists of reptilian people.

Qanon also believe Donald Trump was actually behind the Mueller investigation into his collusion with Russia, and that Mueller was actually working for Trump in a public ruse to to conceal he was actually going after Democratic pedophiles. Robert Mueller is a Republican after all. How all this worked is beyond me.

Of course, all that sounds crazy, right? No child sex trafficking ring was discovered at the pizza shop. There was no deep state. No lizard people. No members working at the shop who were a part of the Clinton presidential campaign. The shop didn’t even have a basement. So anyone who believes the Satanic Democratic deep state child sex trafficking conspiracy theory is just a deranged lunatic on the fringe, right? Personally, I believe the entire Republican Party consists of deranged lunatics.

For the past two years, these deranged lunatics have been gaslighting Dr. Anthony Fauci to the point they can’t even remember why it started. Dr. Anthony Fauci is the leading expert on viruses in this nation. He fought tirelessly against the pandemic, trying to save as many lives as possible. Dr. Anthony Fauci is a national hero.

As new information on the coronavirus came in throughout the pandemic, the strategies to fight it changed. When it started, we were advised not to wear face masks. The rules on face masks and social distancing changed. This made very angry stupid people claim the government was lying and that paranoia should trump science. Dr. Anthony Fauci was hindered throughout the pandemic by Donald Trump, who was suggesting we combat the virus with aquarium cleaner, horse dewormer, and bleach. Republicans were listening to morons like Jeff Rogan over scientists like Dr. Fauci. Republicans soon claimed it was Fauci shutting the nation down, canceling schools, and killing american jobs and businesses, even though Dr. Fauci has no power to do any any of these things. This is not a belief by the lunatic fringe. It’s a common perception among the GOP.

A poll conducted last February found that a quarter of Republicans (in case you’re one of them, a quarter is 25 percent) believe Satan-worshipping pedophiles running a global sex-trafficking operation control the U.S. government, media and financial institutions. A quarter of Republicans believe a storm is coming to sweep away the elites and restore the rightful leader of the country. And, a quarter of Republicans believe true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save the country.

This is not Qanon. This is the Republican Party. Additionally, 16 percent of all Americans, 44 million people, believe this shit.

While Qanon is only seen favorably by 16 percent of Republicans according to another poll taken earlier this month, nearly half of mainstream Republicans believe Democrats are engaged in child sex trafficking rings. And 30 percent of Republicans believe the top Democratic elites of the party are involved in child sex trafficking rings.

Ironically, Donald Trump is on tape eyeballing a little girl and talking about dating her in ten years. Donald Trump endorsed an accused pedophile for the United States Senate. Republicans in Tennessee are trying to eliminate age requirements for marriage so grown men can marry little girls. And it seems every time a politician is found guilty of a sex crime with a child, he’s a Republican. Fun fact: No Democratic Speaker of the House has ever been sent to prison for raping a child.

And in case you’re wondering, a majority of Republicans believe Donald Trump is the legitimate president of the United States.

This shit stems from Republicans gaslighting during the hearings to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court to Florida goon Governor Ron DeSantis canceling Disney. This morning, I saw a political cartoon at GoComics pushing the believe that Disney is full of “groomers.” This cartoon is being distributed by a major newspaper syndicate and it’s not based on any facts. This wasn’t a Ben Garrison cartoon. It’s mainstream conservatism.

I too believe we have to fight to save our nation. I don’t mean physically. I mean we have to fight against disinformation. I believe we don’t just fight the liars, but call out those who are giving them a platform, from syndicates to newspapers to social media platforms.

I have two predictions: The number of Republicans believe lies will continue to increase, and there will be another violent attack based on these lies.

Creative note: I have to be on a train this morning for two cartoon events in Washington over the next two days, so I started this cartoon around 9 PM last night. Being the stupid guy I am, I kept adding details and sitting back thinking about what I could add next. The next thing I know, it’s six hours later. I went to bed around 3 AM and woke at 6:30 AM. I had some really weird dreams in that short time period after googling so many images on Satanic ceremonies.

Music Note: I was watching the Nevalny thing on CNN and listened to an assortment of music, including songs by Counting Crows, Pink, and The Shins.

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

Tip Jar: if you want to support the cartoonist, please send a donation through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Watch me draw: