QAnon and the BITE Model (Control of Behavior, Information, Thoughts and Emotions)

Additional Reading:

• Conspiracy Theories, Cults and How to Help Friends and Loved Ones with Debunker Mick West

• UFOs, Anti-Government Conspiracy Theories, Covid-19, and Indoctrination With Author and Journalist MJ Banias

• How to Help People Involved in QAnon–A Reddit AMA: QAnonCasualties

AUTHORITARIAN PYRAMID CULT STRUCTURE

To help discern the member hierarchy of a destructive cult, I typically use the pyramid below. To apply this structure for Trump’s followers, let’s first start outside the pyramid with “fringe members,” people who are affiliated very loosely in a behavioral sense and may be indoctrinated into the authoritarian belief system. They are influenced and involved with the destructive cult, but not to the extent of someone who may work for Trump in the administration or one of his businesses. That individual may be evaluated as less extremely mind controlled than the staffer but is still involved in a destructive, mind control (BITE) experience. People mostly use smartphones and these digital devices serve as the personalized delivery system for cult indoctrination–if they believe all critical information is “fake” or evil.