(CNN) After skirting the issue for weeks, President Donald Trump offered an embrace Wednesday of the fringe internet phenomenon QAnon , praising its followers for supporting him and shrugging off its outlandish conspiracies. Trump admitted he wasn't intimately familiar with some of the sprawling conspiracies offered by the group's followers but said he understood it was becoming more widespread. "I have heard that it's gaining in popularity," Trump said, suggesting QAnon followers approved of how he'd handled social unrest in places like Portland, Oregon. Trump is revered among the conspiracy's followers, who believe he was recruited to help eliminate the controlling criminal conspiracy they allege is gripping the world's power structures. ​Asked earlier Wednesday about Trump's support for QAnon, his press secretary insisted it wasn't a matter she'd ever heard him discuss.

Source: CNN August 19, 2020 23:17 UTC