Getty Eric Trump and the QAnon photo.
An image is circulating social media that shows Eric Trump posting a QAnon photo on Instagram just before President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. People who saw the photo say he deleted the post a couple of hours later. The photo was not on Eric Trump’s Instagram when Heavy checked, but an archive of Instagram does indicate that he shared the photo. Other media sources, including a reporter from The Washington Post, are also sharing the photo and saying Eric Trump deleted it shortly after sharing it online.
Here’s what you need to know.
The Photo Shows ‘Q’ Over the Flag & a Hashtag #WWG1WGA
The Instagram photo shows a big Q overlayed on an American flag with the words, “Who’s ready for the Trump Rally tonight?” The photo also has #WWG1WGA on it. The hashtag is a common hashtag used among QAnon followers and it means, “Where We Go One, We Go All.”
Here’s the photo circulating on social media.
The screenshot above shows 4,729 likes and 288 comments. Other versions (including the archived photo) show different like counts and comment numbers, indicating the photo was online for a while before it was removed.
The photo is being shared on social media. It’s not clear how long it was up, but some say it was removed a couple of hours after it was posted. Some people are now asking Donald Trump’s campaign manager for comment, while others are wondering if someone in Trump’s campaign will announce that they are “Q.” The origins of Q have been the subject of much debate and news coverage.
Over/under on Trump officially declaring himself to be Q+ tonight? Remember, Eric Trump has signalled advance knowledge of Trump intentions before. pic.twitter.com/Ylb3z0FNNQ
— 🤬 David Mullins 🤬 (@pdavidmullinsjr) June 20, 2020
“Jay Q Six” on Facebook shared another photo showing the post on Eric Trump’s Instagram page with the QAnon photo among his recent shares. He wrote: “He deleted the post. Here is his page before he did.”
Jay Q Six
Lawrence E Boos shared the photos to a public group on Facebook called “QARMY,” writing: “So Eric Trump posted a pic with a ‘Q’ in the imagery. The pic has been taken down but the message was received! Rally tonight should be interesting!”
Dave Weigel of The Washington Post shared the photo too. The version he shared shows 765 comments and 10,884 likes, along with a like by Tiffany Trump.
The president’s middle son, a main campaign surrogate, posting a QAnon message on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/bT11puXuDs
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 20, 2020
Weigel wrote: “The president’s middle son, a main campaign surrogate, posting a QAnon message on Instagram.”
Steve Herman of W7VOA also shared the photo.
#QAnon posting on #Instgram from @POTUS son and campaign surrogate @EricTrump. https://t.co/waYZfsP10Z pic.twitter.com/jeYBofRaBk
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) June 20, 2020
An Archive of Instagram Reveals the Photo
An archive of Eric Trump’s Instagram page also shows the Q photo. Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch shared the archive on Twitter. The archive link is for June 20, 2020 at 18:59 UTC (1:59 p.m. Central/2:59 p.m. Eastern.)
Archive link herehttps://t.co/4dyR6HfdhA
— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) June 20, 2020
You can see the archive here. It indicates the page is from Eric Trump’s Twitter, and also shows “More posts from erictrump,” which include posts that are still live on Eric Trump’s Instagram page. This archive was taken when there were 6,306 likes.
Archive.is
Clicking on the link in the archive brings an error message that the post is gone.
On Facebook, Tori Brown shared that she was the one who created the graphic that Trump had used.
She posted the photo on Facebook seven hours earlier, before Trump shared the photo. Heavy can’t confirm she created the graphic, but the photo was indeed shared online before Trump’s photo was posted.
She had also shared the photo on Instagram.
Later she posted an excited message about Trump sharing her graphic.
Eric Trump hasn’t commented on the photo.
READ NEXT: Daily COVID-19 Updates