OSullivan said that while believers are engaged in an irrationality exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, they have likely gone through some form of trauma in their lives.
Its really easy to get distracted by the craziness of the conspiracy theory. I think we naturally all get wound up in that. But you got to see past that, OSullivan told HuffPost.
Youre dealing with totally irrational beliefs. Theres no point really in trying to gauge [it]. You got to engage with the person.
The journalist spoke to HuffPost about Waiting for JFK: Report From the Fringe, the latest episode of the CNN original series The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper .
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The documentary, which premieres Sunday after more than a year in the making, follows OSullivan as he speaks with loved ones of believers in the JFK Jr. theory, which has ties to the QAnon conspiracy movement.
The episode also looks at Michael Protzman, a leading voice behind the theory. Protzman spoke with OSullivan in a tense interview just months before his death , which followed a motorcycle accident in June.
The CNN correspondent noted that when JFK Jr. (and his father) failed to show up in Dallas as expected, a lot of people went on with their lives. But a core group continued following Protzman , who was known as Negative48 in a Telegram channel where he spread his beliefs to thousands.
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Despite the conspiracy theory being so ridiculous, OSullivan said he saw an opportunity to look at its impact on families.
We often think of QAnon and a lot of this stuff as a joke, and in some ways its hard not to laugh at it, of course, he said. But if youve got a son or daughter, or a mom or dad, or brother or sister whos gone off and abandoned their family to join this thing, thats not really a joke to you.
Family members can find it difficult to voice their disagreement with a loved one who starts discussing QAnon or cabals at the kitchen table every night, OSullivan said.
If you tell somebody theyre foolish and stupid, etc., you risk pushing them further into this rabbit hole and alienation, he said. But then at the same time, its hard to put up with that stuff.
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According to OSullivan, family members he spoke to simply wanted their loved ones to return home.
He pointed to his conversations with Protzmans mother both before and after the death of her son. Though he has been likened to a cult leader, Protzman was once just a man whod been led astray himself, the woman told OSullivan.
He just happens to be a lot further down this rabbit hole than his followers, the journalist said. She wasnt trying to deny his then-complicity in all of this. But she was just trying to explain to people that hes a victim, too.
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