Roseanne Has Become A Creature Of The Conspiracy Theory Swamp (TWEETS)

By now, most of you know that Roseanne Barr came under fire for joining in on the far-right bullying campaign against the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In response to a picture of David Hogg raising his fist at the March for Our Lives, Roseanne tweeted the words “NAZI SALUTE.” That tweet turned a lot of heads, since both Roseanne the actress and Roseanne the character are rabid supporters of Donald Trump.

The tweet was quickly deleted–reportedly at the behest of ABC brass–but not before a number of Twitter users got receipts.

In response, a number of users have called for a boycott of the Roseanne reboot.

But it turns out that Roseanne has embraced a conspiracy theory that makes her slagging of Hogg look like a model of sanity. She is an open and unashamed promoter of a theory that claims significant players in both entertainment and politics are pedophiles.

If you’ve watched the darker fringes of right-wing media, you may have heard about something called “The Storm.” Supposedly, an anonymous 4chan user known as “Q” or “QAnon” is posting encoded messages containing high-level information about a coming crackdown on pedophiles. This user is supposedly a top Trump adviser–or, depending on the source, is Trump himself.

To hear him talk, significant players in both the Democratic Party and in entertainment are involved in a massive child sex-trafficking ring–and Trump is poised to open the trap door under it very soon. This is a derivative of the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that burned up the darker reaches of the Web for much of 2016 and 2017.

According to Will Sommer of Right Richter, the effort to promote this lunacy has hit a snag after Reddit and YouTube cracked down on some of its more aggressive promoters. But with Roseanne becoming Trumpland’s latest darling, this lunacy has gained renewed attention.

According to The Daily Beast, Roseanne has been promoting “The Storm” for some time. In November, for instance, she tweeted a request for help in getting in touch with “Q.” Her entire Internet presence went dark a few hours later. When she returned, a number of her followers demanded to know if it was really her.

Before then, according to The Washington Post, she loudly promoted Pizzagate, as well as the Seth Rich conspiracy theory

She briefly “retired” from social media in December after an all-out feud with critics of her rabid support for Trump. She returned in January, however.

On Friday, Roseanne began tweeting and retweeting madly about Trump’s supposed efforts to stamp out child sex trafficking.

https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/979890451200258048

https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/979922902513577990

By then, however, word had gotten out about her efforts to promote “The Storm,” as well as her past support of other pro-Trump conspiracy theories. It was so severe that Rush Limbaugh came to her defense, claiming her critics were trying to silence her solely because of her unabashed support for Trump. No, Rush. They’re rightly calling out a conspiracy theory peddler.

After another pummeling on Twitter, Roseanne waved her hands.

https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/979949369754611713

https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/979955366300708864

Too little, too late, Roseanne. The world now knows that you’re promoting a theory that has not only been completely debunked, but has resulted in innocent people being slandered and almost got someone killed.

For most of my middle school and high school years, “Roseanne” was a staple of my Tuesday nights. But I cannot in good conscience watch this show. I can abide her being a Trump supporter. But I cannot abide her peddling unhinged, bizarre, and slanderous conspiracy theories. It would be no different if we were dealing with a left-leaning celebrity who was a rabid truther.

ABC has a decision to make. Are ratings so important that it is willing to promote someone who has openly embraced conspiracy theories? Unless Roseanne recants this nonsense, ABC should dump her. You aren’t entitled to your own facts.

(featured image: screenshot courtesy Stand Up Sucks, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.