News & Politics

March 4 Isn’t the Only Date on the QAnon Calendar

What a month.

Photograph by Andrew Beaujon.

March 4:

Okay, forget about January 6 being the date of “the Storm,” the day that would kick off the military takeover of the US that leads to the execution of many Democrats. Turns out, the Capitol riot wasn’t actually carried out by Trump supporters but by Antifa (you can see their excellent camouflage in the above photo). The new date circled on some Qanon believers’ calendars is March 4. As Vox explains:

QAnon believers claim that the US federal government secretly became a corporation under a law they believe passed in 1871 but does not actually exist, rendering every president inaugurated and every constitutional amendment passed in the years since illegitimate.

But on March 4, the narrative goes, Trump will return as the 19th president, the first legitimate president since Ulysses S. Grant, with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as his vice president. Why March 4? It’s the original date that presidents were inaugurated. Inauguration Day changed to January 20 with the passage of the 20th amendment in 1933 — the same year that Franklin D. Roosevelt ended the gold standard.

Enthusiasm about March 4 is not shared in all corners of the sprawling Qanon universe: “in the last couple of days, virtually all the major QAnon figures and influencers have reversed course and dismissed the date, calling it a false flag event created entirely by the mainstream media to ‘make the whole movement look dumb,’ ” David Gilbert reports for Vice.

Trump’s election-lawsuit attorney Lin Wood appears to endorse the March 4 theory, USA Today reports. March 4 is also Rick Perry’s birthday and the day in 1966 when John Lennon’s comment that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus” sparked outrage. Coincidence?

Room rates at DC’s Trump Hotel are sky-high that day, but downtown rooms are available for much less—we spotted an $86/night rate on Travelocity for the erstwhile Proud Boy fave Hotel Harrington.

Any visits to DC on March 4 may have to be self-guided: No permit applications have been filed for a public demonstration that day, a spokesperson for the National Park Service tells Washingtonian.

March 20:

This is another possible date of Trump’s return, as reported by Washington Post journalist Dave Weigel on Sunday.

March 20 may offer better value for non-locals: You can still snag a room at the Trump Hotel for around $600. March 20 is also the date the GOP was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, in 1834.

Alrighty then, these are the important dates we know of—so far.

Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.