Former White House Adviser Continues Fueling QAnon Conspiracy Theory That Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Dead

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Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses for the official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on November 30, 2018. In Ginsburg’s absence from the court, QAnon conspiracy theorists had circulated the idea that Ginsburg... MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka continued to promote a conspiracy theory that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died as the Supreme Court Justice returned to work.

On Friday, NBC News reporter Ben Collins wrote that "now that RBG will be out in public soon, the conspiracy that she's secretly dead will only evolve. Too many people—not just QAnon folks (where it started) but also guys like Seb—got into this one. Expect lots of weird, close-up shots of ears to prove it's an old lady body double."

Gorka responded "How is there a 'public' appearance behind closed doors? Let the Games begin!"

Ginsburg, 85, had been absent from the court since receiving surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her left lung in December. CNN reported that Ginsburg went to the court for a closed-door conference on Friday, the first such appearance since her operation.

While Democrats have worried about the justice's health—she fell and fractured three ribs in November—others have used Ginsburg's time away from the court to postulate that she was actually dead.

In her absence from the court, QAnon conspiracy theorists had circulated the idea that Ginsburg had died and Democrats were covering up her passing to prevent President Donald Trump from appointing a third Supreme Court justice.

Gorka previously promoted the conspiracy on January 30.

How is there a “public” appearance behind closed doors?

Let the Games begin!

Oh, and “Ben,” only my friends call me Seb. https://t.co/kAW6mlYdC7

— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) February 15, 2019

Fox & Friends helped fuel the conspiracy last month by airing a graphic indicating that Ginsburg had died. The show apologized for the mistake, but online commentators capitalized on the error to promote their claims.

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Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses for the official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on November 30, 2018. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

QAnon supporters promote an broad, nebulous and constantly changing set of claims that include the idea that Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller are working together to arrest pedophiles and criminal political figures while uprooting the "deep state."

They say an unidentified figure, known as "Q," has high-level security clearance and is revealing highly classified information about the inner workings of government.

Adherents of the pro-Trump theory think that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and presidents before Trump have engaged in child molestation and other crimes.

Believers have promoted the idea that figures in the "deep state" tried to shoot down Air Force One and that Trump will send his enemies, including Clinton and Obama, to Guantanamo Bay, according to The Daily Beast.

In August, prominent QAnon believer Michael Lebron, known as Lionel online, met Trump in the White House, CNN reported.

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About the writer


Daniel Moritz-Rabson is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek based in New York. Before joining Newsweek Daniel interned at PBS NewsHour ... Read more

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