Florida Republican who openly follows ‘QAnon’ conspiracy theory running for Congress

A Florida bookseller who openly follows the “QAnon” conspiracy theory is running for a Florida House seat.

Florida Politics first reported earlier this week that Matthew Lusk launched a Republican campaign in March to represent the state’s 5th Congressional District.

The seat is currently occupied by Democratic Rep. Al Lawson (Fla.), who easily won election last fall. The seat is not considered competitive right now by the Cook Political Report. 

Lusk, who is from Macclenny, Fla., told Florida Politics and the Daily Beast that he follows QAnon because he thinks there is a legitimacy to what its supporters have posted. He stressed to the Daily Beast that this did not make him a “brainwashed cult member.”{mosads}

QAnon is a conspiracy theory about a “deep state” plot against President Trump and those who back him. It was first shared on the message board 4chan by a person claiming to be a senior security official in the Trump administration in 2017.

The theory promotes a number of false allegations, including that Democratic lawmakers are part of a globalist pedophile cult.

QAnon gained increased attention in 2018 after some attendees of a Trump rally held up posters promoting the theory. 

Lusk said he treats posts from “Q,” which is the person or people behind QAnon, as others would treat news content from networks like CNN and Fox News. 

He argued that the theory has a “very articulate screening of past events, a very articulate screening of present conditions, and a somewhat prophetic divination of where the political and geopolitical ball will be bouncing next,” the Daily Beast reported. 

Lusk says on his campaign website that he will be running on a platform that includes a call to eliminate the IRS and legalize prostitution. He also lists “Q” as one of the issues he feels strongly about. 

“Who is Q,” a portion of his site reads. 

The Daily Beast, citing Federal Election Commission registrations, reported that Lusk is currently the only Republican vying to run for Florida’s 5th Congressional District seat. He’s placed about $2,000 into his campaign, according to the Daily Beast.