Shortly before talking about the “Jewish Question,” QAnon supporter says Turning Point USA offered him an ambassadorship
Written by Alex Kaplan
Published
A prominent supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory claimed that the conservative student organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) approached him to be one of their ambassadors.
Dylan Wheeler, known online as “Educating Liberals,” is a major proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which the FBI has cited as a potential domestic terrorism threat (multiple proponents of the theory have also committed deadly or otherwise violent acts). Wheeler, who also has a history of pushing hoaxes and conspiracy theories and helping with a harassment campaign on social media, helped promote a rally for the conspiracy theory in Washington, D.C., on September 11, where he pushed the “9/11 truth” conspiracy theory.
On the Slightly Sophisticated podcast, Wheeler said that TPUSA “asked me to be an ambassador,” later claiming that he was “the only person I think involved, technically, with Turning Point USA that supports ‘Q’ openly.”
Wheeler also mentioned TPUSA later in the podcast as an aside while he was discussing the “Jewish Question.” The organization has connections to the far-right and to extremist figures, including some who push anti-Semitism.
Contrary to Wheeler’s suggestion, TPUSA has multiple connections to QAnon, with both its founder, Charlie Kirk, and one of its advisory council members, Joel Fischer, pushing false and misleading material from QAnon supporters. One of the people involved with TPUSA’s British branch also promoted the conspiracy theory and wrote on Facebook that “Q IS 100% VALID.”
Citation From an episode of the Slightly Sophisticated podcast uploaded on September 10:
DYLAN WHEELER: My friends and family are looking back at my old Facebook memories of, you know, when I woke up seven years ago and called the pope a satanist to all my friends and everything on Facebook. And now it’s getting closer and closer, and like, “Hmm, he’s wearing the red shoes, he’s got all this going on,” and it’s like, hmm. Eventually, you know -- I’m always going to stick to my guns, but, like you’re saying, a lot of people are in it for the notoriety, the fame. Turning Point USA is all about, you know, kind of -- I don’t really know, I don’t know how to describe it because they asked me to be an ambassador. Said sure, what do I have to do? It’s like, “Oh, you got to promote our stuff and whatnot.” And I’ve never promoted it once. You know, I enjoy going -- I’ve been to like two of the events because I like the names that they get to those events. Some of those people -- I got to meet Donald Trump Jr. at one of the events.
KYLE RAMOS (HOST): Yeah.
WHEELER: You know, they had me as VIP at one of the events. But I’m really the only person I think involved, technically, with Turning Point USA that supports “Q” openly. And I’m never going to change for that.
Later in the episode, Wheeler, while again mentioning TPUSA, discussed the “Jewish Question,” a phrase associated with anti-Semitism, which he later also invoked during the D.C. QAnon rally. (There are connections between the QAnon conspiracy theory and its supporters and anti-Semitism and white nationalism.) From the podcast:
KYLE RAMOS (HOST): And then they were calling Ben Shapiro, who I’m not really a fan of, but -- and Dennis Prager, and there was one other, Dr. Peterson, that they’re Nazis. Like listen, I’m not a fan of Ben Shapiro, but the dude is obviously not a Nazi. I mean, he -- every Saturday, he doesn’t use his phone because he’s, you know -- the Sabbath.
DYLAN WHEELER: I just, I feel like the truth is like an onion and there’s so many different layers to it, and there are layers that Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro will not peel back to get to, if you know what I’m saying.
RAMOS: Yeah. I mean, I don’t know. You think so? You think about Peterson, you think he’s that way?
WHEELER: I don’t know. Well, I saw a -- I saw someone from the crowd ask him about the Jewish Question, you know asking why, “How come so many Jews, you know, have their hands in the media and control most of our mainstream media?” And literally Jordan Peterson stood on stage and was like, “Ugh.” But literally, this was -- it was awkward how long he went, “I’m not going to answer that.” And he went on to the next thing. It was really weird. I’ve met Jordan Peterson in real life. I got to shake his hand and talk to him for a little bit at a Turning Point USA event, which is why I do like that stuff.
RAMOS: Yeah.
WHEELER: Because somehow they get those huge names, people I look up to. I still hate Jordan Peterson, but the fact that he couldn’t answer that or didn’t want to break it down, maybe it was because he didn’t know how to answer it too. And that’s -- that’s actually admirable.
…
See, me, I don’t hold back at all. Like the Jewish Question, I don’t know how to answer that. Like, there are some really -- I’m not saying Jews are bad, by any means. I’m saying, like, Israel has their deep state just like America has their deep state, and all that needs to be rooted out.