The Trump administration went on the record indicating they were not concerned that their followers at public rallies drown out reporters trying to ask questions of the president. CNN reporter Jim Acosta tweeted about the scene at the Tampa rally on July 31, “I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy.” (Daily Beast, August 1, 2018, by Matt Wilstein)
The Tampa rally featured followers of Q, a shadowy character who claims to be privy to the international conspiracy targeting Trump. A Qanon.pub website created in March has over 7 million visits a month and a related Facebook group has almost 40,00 members sharing posts about their latest conspiracy theories. (The New York Times, August 1, 2018, by Justin Bank, Liam Stack and Daniel Victor)