Trump-JFK Jr. 2024 believers turned out for Trump's Arizona rally

published 18 January 2022

One of the more unbelievable subplots in these divided times is the stated belief among some supporters of former President Donald Trump that John F. Kennedy Jr. did not, in fact, die in a plane crash in 1999, but instead is on the verge of revealing himself as a Trump supporter. This group turned out for Trump's weekend rally in Florence, Arizona, Politico's Meridith McGraw reported in a dispatch Monday evening.

QAnon influencer Michael Protzman, who organized a Great Pumpkin–like JFK Jr. reappearance party in Dallas last November, was spotted in the stands, and "one attendee was spotted wearing a red shirt with the faces of Trump, [John F.] Kennedy, and Kennedy Jr.," McGraw reports. Jim and Ron Watkins, believed by some to have started the QAnon conspiracy theory, recorded their attendance at Trump's rally for their fans online.

Arizona resident Ray Kallatsa, who told Politico he "definitely" wants Trump to run again in 2024, said he wants "JFK Jr." to be Trump's running mate. "I don't want to sound too much like a conspiracy theorist, but he's coming back," Kallatsa said. "He's supposed to reveal himself on the 17th if he's truly alive. I think we'll see him." JFK Jr. did not reveal himself, of course, as some parody accounts noted.

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"Trump has always had one foot firmly in the camp with conspiracists on the right, starting with his promotion of birtherism during the Obama years," Politico reports. "Having been ousted from power, he has continued to adopt and amplify this world and its views, effectively solidifying it as the base of the Republican Party." You can read McGraw's dispatch, and see photos of some of the thousands of rally attendees, at Politico.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.