It’s bursting into the mainstream – a bizarre conspiracy theory that casts US President Donald Trump as its hero.

QAnon claims that the president is secretly fighting a cabal of high-placed paedophiles in Hollywood and the so-called “deep state”. But why has it had an apparent surge in popularity during the global pandemic?

Since it first emerged in an anonymous post on an online message board in 2017, QAnon has developed into a movement which is now making inroads into the American political psyche.

However, many families of QAnon followers feel they have lost their relatives to a dangerous cult. Several people have been arrested plotting attacks while seemingly under the influence of the conspiracy theory.

This week Twitter banned thousands of QAnon-themed accounts, but it’s likely that at least one adherent will enter the US Congress after elections in November.

What role might this strange belief system play in US politics?

Presenter: Mike Wendling

Picture caption: A man in a crowd flashes a QAnon T-shirt