Anderson Cooper on CNN. Source: Screencap/CNN

Watch: Former QAnon Believer to Anderson Cooper: Sorry, I Actually Believed You Ate Babies

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

An exchange between out CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and a former Q Anon believer offered a glimpse into the conspiracy theories - including belief in baby-eating cultists and alien bird people - that drive some people on the far right.

Cooper interviewed Jitarth Jadeja, who until 2019 was an adherent of the conspiracy theory group known as QAnon, as part of a special report that was aired on Jan. 30. Titled "Inside the QAnon Conspiracy," the report featured a perplexed Cooper asking Jadeja whether he actually believed the claims that circulate among QAnon believers, including stories about Democrats, journalists, and liberals being part of a massive - but hidden - cabal.

"Did you at the time believe that high-level Democrats and celebrities were worshiping Satan and drinking the blood of children?" Cooper asked Jadeja.

"Anderson, I thought you did that," Jadeja replied, "and I would like to apologize for that right now." Jadeja specified, "I apologize for thinking that you ate babies."

Cooper asked what it was that caused Jadeja to subscribe to that belief, and Jadeja told the CNN anchor that it was nothing more than "Q" - the unknown person or persons behind QAnon - having "specifically mentioned you, and he mentioned you very early on."

"People still talk about that to this day," Jadeja noted. "There was posts about that just four days ago."

The story took an even more bizarre turn as Jadeja added: "Some people thought you were a robot."

"You really believed this," Cooper said.

"I didn't just believe that; I at one stage believed that QAnon was part of military intelligence, which was what he says," Jadeja recounted. "But on top of that, that the people behind them were actually a group of fifth-dimensional, inter-dimensional extraterrestrial bipedal bird aliens called Blue Avians."

QAnon adherents have subscribed to the idea that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election, and that Trump was preparing an apocalyptic series of revelations that would culminate in mass arrests and public executions, and bring down the sinister cabal, before Biden could assume the presidency.

QAnon adherents are thought to have been among the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building last month, bringing the group increased media scrutiny.

In the wake of Trump's exit from the White House, QAnon believers have struggled to adapt their convictions to make them fit with contemporary events. Some have abandoned the group, while others have created new and more elaborate theories to accommodate the fact that Biden is now president and Trump did not usher in a final victory over shadowy forces of evil.

Since leaving QAnon, Jadeja has been outspoken about the dangerous misinformation that the group has spread and the passions it has evoked in its followers.

"You should be really scared, these guys are dangerous," Jadeja told CBS News. "They're more dangerous than white supremacists."

To see a clip of Cooper's conversation with Jadeja, follow this link.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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