The far-right firebrands and conspiracy theorists of the pro-Trump
Internet have a new enemy: each other.

QAnon devotees are livid at their former hero Michael Flynn for accurately
calling their jumbled credo �total nonsense.� Donald Trump superfans have
voiced a sense of betrayal because the former president, booed for getting
a coronavirus immunization booster, has become a �vaccine salesman.� And
attorney Lin Wood seems mad at pretty much everyone, including former
allies on the scattered �elite strike-force team� investigating
nonexistent mass voter fraud.

After months of failing to disprove the reality of Trump�s 2020
presidential election loss, some of the Internet�s most popular right-wing
provocateurs are grappling with the pressures of restless audiences,
saturated markets, ongoing investigations and millions of dollars in legal
bills.

The result is a chaotic melodrama, playing out via secretly recorded phone
calls, personal attacks in podcasts, and a seemingly endless stream of
posts on Twitter, Gab and Telegram calling their rivals Satanists,
communists, pedophiles or �pay-triots� � money-grubbing grifters
exploiting the cause.

The infighting reflects the diminishing financial rewards for the
merchants of right-wing disinformation, whose battles center not on policy
or doctrine but on the treasures of online fame: viewer donations and
subscriptions; paid appearances at rallies and conferences; and crowds of
followers to buy their books and merchandise.

But it also reflects a broader confusion in the year since QAnon�s
faceless nonsense-peddler, Q, went mysteriously silent.

Without Q�s cryptic messages, influencers who once hung on Q�s every
�drop� have started fighting to �grab the throne to become the new point
person for the movement,� said Sara Aniano, a Monmouth University graduate
student of communication studying far-right rhetoric and conspiracy
theories on social media.

�In the absence of a president like Trump and in the absence of a figure
like Q, there�s this void where nobody knows who to follow,� Aniano said.
�At one point it seemed like Q was gospel. Now there�s a million different
bibles, and no one knows which one is most accurate.�

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The cage match kicked off late in November when Kyle Rittenhouse,
acquitted of all charges after fatally shooting two men at a protest last
year in Kenosha, Wis., told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that his former
attorneys, including Wood, had exploited his jail time to boost their
fundraising �for their own benefit, not trying to set me free.�

Wood has since snapped back at his 18-year-old former client, wondering
aloud in recent messages on the chat service Telegram: Could his life be
�literally under the supervision and control of a �director?� Whoever
�Kyle� is, pray for him.�

The feud carved a major rift between Wood and his former compatriots in
the pro-Trump �stop the steal� campaign, with an embattled Wood attacking
Rittenhouse supporters including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.);
Flynn, a former national security adviser to Trump; Sidney Powell, Flynn�s
attorney; and Patrick Byrne, the Overstock founder who became a major
�stop the steal� financier.

Each faction has accused the opposing side of betraying the pro-Trump
cause or misusing the millions of dollars in funds that have gone to
groups such as Powell�s Defending the Republic.

Wood has posted recordings of his phone calls with Byrne, who can be heard
saying that Wood is �a little kooky,� and Flynn, a QAnon icon who can be
heard telling Wood that QAnon�s mix of extremist conspiracy theories was
actually bogus �nonsense� or a �CIA operation.�

Life amid the ruins of QAnon: �I wanted my family back�

Beyond the infighting, both sides are also staring down the potential for
major financial damage in court. A federal judge last month ordered Wood
and Powell to pay roughly $175,000 in legal fees for their �historic and
profound abuse of the judicial process� in suing to overturn the 2020
presidential election. And Powell and others face potentially billions of
dollars in damages as a result of defamation lawsuits filed by Dominion
Voting Systems, which they falsely accused of helping to rig the 2020
race.

To help cover their legal bills, the factions have set up online
merchandise shops targeting their most loyal followers. Fans of Powell�s
bogus conspiracy theory can, for instance, buy a four-pack set of �Release
the Kraken: Defending the Republic� drink tumblers from her website for
$80. On Flynn�s newly launched website, fans can buy �General Flynn:
#FightLikeAFlynn� women�s racerback tank tops for $30. And Wood�s online
store sells $64.99 �#FightBack� unisex hoodies; the fleece, a listing
says, feels like �wearing a soft, fluffy cloud.�

Their arguments increasingly resemble the performative clashes of pro
wrestling, said Mike Rothschild, a conspiracy theory researcher and author
of a book on QAnon: full of flashy, marketable story lines of heroes
conquering their enemies. The drama, he said, gives the influencers a way
to keep their audiences angry and engaged while also offering them a
chance to prove their loyalty by buying stuff.

Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C. Not long
after, scores of pro-Trump protesters breached the fence line and the
Capitol building itself. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
QAnon is �the easiest money that you could possibly make if you don�t have
a conscience, but there�s only a certain number of people you can fleece.
It�s not a renewable resource,� said Rothschild (who has no relation to
the famous banking family targeted in antisemitic conspiracy theories).

�The fact that they�re all mad at each other, that�s all a byproduct of
the fact that they�re just desperate for money, and there�s only a certain
amount,� he added. So now, he said, the us-vs.-them argument for many
QAnon influencers is: �They�re the pedophiles, the Freemasons, the
illuminati. I�m the truth-teller. I�m the one who�s trying to save the
world.�

QAnon reshaped Trump�s party and radicalized believers. The Capitol siege
may just be the start.

Although Trump is only indirectly connected to some of the increasingly
personal battles, many of them show clear signs of his playbook: winning
attention and overwhelming the enemy through constant, uninhibited
attacks. And the animosity has begun filtering down to mid-level
influencers with smaller followings, who have become divided on the basis
of their loyalty to the warring camps. Some have begun marking their
allegiances on Telegram with special emoji in their usernames: Three
stars, for instance, means you�re on team Flynn. (His opponents haven�t
agreed on a symbol yet, though some have used the three stars as a
punchline.)

QAnon�s credibility didn�t exactly climb when its long-heralded promise �
that Trump�s long-secret war against a Satan-worshiping �deep state� would
culminate in a righteous apocalyptic battle known as the �storm� �
collapsed last January. As Joe Biden entered the White House, Trump took
refuge in Palm Beach, Fla., and most of Trump�s enemies were left
unvanquished.

Many believers have sought since then to distance themselves from the
QAnon name, which they�ve called a �moniker created by [them] to attack
us,� though Q is still their central prophet, devotees still call
themselves �anons� and the theories remain the same.

Fans of Flynn have argued that, in his caught-on-tape conversation, he was
merely disavowing the QAnon media creation, not them, leaving the sanctity
of Q intact. On Telegram last month, Wood said that while �Q speaks truth�
in the fight against �pedophilia and satanic rituals,� the broader QAnon
movement is �likely a Deep State operation.�

But the movement has far from evaporated. Dozens of candidates who have
boosted QAnon talking points are running for Congress this year, including
Ron Watkins, the longtime administrator of Q�s favorite message board,
8kun, (who, as one unproven theory argues, was perhaps once even Q
himself.) And Q-inspired offshoots are promoting anti-vaccine propaganda
and other bizarre theories: One group in Dallas has camped out for weeks
awaiting the second coming of President John F. Kennedy�s long-dead son.

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election was stolen

The power vacuum has played out as Trump and his allies have fought not
only an investigation into pro-Trump rioters� storming of the U.S. Capitol
but separate inquiries into his family business. And Trump himself has had
to go on defense. After he promoted coronavirus vaccines as having �saved
tens of millions of lives worldwide,� some of his most ardently supportive
online communities pushed to brand him a traitor.