Major corporations like Amazon, Walmart donated to candidate who used QAnon slogan: AP

Walmart, Amazon and other major corporations donated to the reelection campaign of a Tennessee state lawmaker who had promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory on social media, the Associated Press reported Saturday. 

According to an Associated Press review of campaign finance records and posts from state Rep. Susan Lynn (R), the elected official’s campaign received $4,750 in donations from Amazon.com Services LLC, Walmart Inc., BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee’s PAC, health insurer Humana and the Southwest Airlines Co. Freedom Fund between Oct. 31, 2019, and Jan. 9, 2020. 

Lynn told the AP in an interview Friday that she does not support QAnon, although the news wire pointed out that Lynn had repeatedly posted a well-known QAnon slogan on her Twitter and Facebook accounts. 

“Amazon made a donation to Rep. Lynn nearly a year ago – we do not plan on making another one,” an Amazon spokesman told The Hill in an email. 

A Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Dozens of QAnon-promoting candidates have run for federal or state offices during the 2020 election cycle, with these candidates collectively raising millions of dollars from thousands of donors, according to AP. 

On Tuesday, Lauren Witzke, a loyal President Trump supporter who faced allegations of supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory, won the GOP Senate primary in Delaware. Witzke earlier this year distanced herself from the theory after tweeting one of its slogans and wearing a QAnon shirt. 

The QAnon theory claims, without evidence, that Trump and the U.S. military are working to dismantle a secret cabal of Democrats and Hollywood elites involved in large-scale child trafficking and pedophilia. 

While originally a fringe idea restricted to a limited number of social media channels, QAnon has gained increased recognition in the mainstream media.

A Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday revealed that 47 percent of American adult respondents said they had heard or read about QAnon, up from 23 percent in a Pew survey from March.

According to the liberal watchdog Media Matters for America, about 81 current or former congressional candidates have supported the conspiracy theory or promoted QAnon content, with at least 24 qualifying for spots in November’s general election.

–Updated on Sept. 20 at 12:53 p.m.