'DC is dissolved': Trump supporters freak out because they can't properly read Google Maps
Qanon followers have become convinced that Washington, D.C. has been "dissolved" ahead of the purported re-inauguration of former president Donald Trump.
What unfolded Jan. 20 in the nation’s capital was a day of reckoning for many followers of the QAnon extremist ideology — but not the one they were expecting.
They were expecting “the storm,” a violent showdown that would end with Donald Trump destroying powerful child abusers and Satan-worshiping Democrats.
Instead — two weeks after a mob attacked the Capitol to try to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election — Trump flew off to Mar-a-Lago and Joe Biden took the oath of office, becoming the 46th president of the United States.
But many QAnon crackpots haven’t given up.
Some conspiracy theorists believe the former president will be restored to power Thursday, on the March 4 date that had been Inauguration Day until the 20th Amendment was passed in 1933 and established that date as Jan. 20, and they're pointing to the absence of "D.C." on Google and Apple maps to support their claims, reported Newsweek.
"Did maps always just say Washington?" said popular Qanon conspiracist @GhostEzra on the Telegram encrypted messaging app. "Thought it said Washington DC?"
Google doesn't label the nation's capital with D.C., but it does identify the District of Columbia on state boundaries.
"I just searched Washington DC on my iPhone Apple Maps & it just shows Washington, no DC. This is the same for Google maps & mapquest," one follower responded. "DC is dissolved."
Trump supporters complained that Google and Apple maps were not providing direction to Washington ahead of the Jan. 6 "Stop The Steal" protest that turned into the deadly insurrection, but independent fact-checkers have debunked those claims.
The 20th Amendment forever moved up Inauguration Day to Jan. 20. Roosevelt’s first term was thus shortened by two months, though that ended up not mattering since he was reelected.
According to QAnon lore, all presidents since Ulysses S. Grant have been illegitimate, so it follows that the day Trump returns to power to set things right would be the original Inauguration Day.
There are a couple of problems with this theory.
First, it’s unclear if the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, is still valid in the Q universe, since that also came after Grant.
Second, March 4 didn’t actually end up being the first Inauguration Day anyhow. That’s when it was scheduled for in 1789, but bad weather — an actual storm! — kept so many members of Congress from getting to the temporary capital of New York City that they failed to have the quorum needed for Washington to take the oath. The first inauguration didn’t take place until April 30, 1789.
Also, this is not the first day QAnon followers have predicted Trump will reveal himself as an American savior. Other dates include but are not limited to: Dec. 8, 2020; Dec. 14, 2020; Jan. 6, 2021 (attempt by followers to make this prophecy come true notwithstanding); Jan. 20, 2021.
