Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.
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While some QAnon believers claim the phrase is taken from an inscription on a boat owned by former President John F. Kennedy, the reality is that it’s simply a phrase from the 1990s sailing movie “White Squall” that was subsequently co-opted by the QAnon movement.Indeed the exact wording used in the oath taken by the Flynns came from a message posted by QAnon’s anonymous leader several weeks earlier—a message that also encouraged followers to take the oath.
But in Tuesday’s court filing, the Flynns claim the saying had no connection to the extremist movement when they said it.“It was not an oath of allegiance to QAnon, or any kind of oath at all. It was a simple, family, July 4 statement of support for each other,” lawyers for the Flynns said in the document filed Tuesday.But the argument that this was all just an extraordinary coincidence of having a family motto that exactly mimics a well-known QAnon phrase is somewhat undermined by the fact that Michael Flynn shared the video on Twitter alongside the QAnon-linked hashtag #TakeTheOath—a tweet that Jack Flynn then shared to his followers.In the video Michael Flynn is seen reciting the oath before all the family members repeat what he says. However, if it’s a family motto, then Flynn doesn’t seem to be too well acquainted with it, as he is seen reading it from his phone.
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