By Aiyeku Timothy
Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC has almost tripled the rates of prices of suites for some rooms on the night of March 3 and 4 because some QAnon conspiracy theorists have marked it as the date Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 19th president of the United States.
For some QAnon conspiracy theorists, March 4, 2021 is a date circled in red Sharpie on the calendar for Donald Trump to be sworn in as the 19th president of the United States.
The hotel rooms were to be paid for by Trump’s supporters expected to attend his inauguration if he had won the election.
The theory borrows from the sovereign citizens movement, which espouses that a law enacted in 1871 secretly turned the U.S. into a corporation and ended the American government put in place by the founding fathers.
This rightly makes the inauguration date March 4 and not January 20, as it was observed because it was the dates presidents were sworn in prior to the 1933 passage of the 20th amendment.
The last true president, the theory goes, was Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president, who was in office in 1871 when the United States turned into a corporation.
“Some QAnon followers are borrowing discredited arguments from sovereign citizens in order to yet again move the goalposts,” Travis Week, co-host of the conspiracy-debunking podcast QAnon Anonymous, explained via tweet,
“They’re absurdly claiming Trump will be inaugurated on March 4, because the U.S. was ‘incorporated’ in 1871 and all Amendments passed after that are invalid.”
At the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, the least expensive room option is the deluxe king, ranging in size from 350 to 475 square feet. At this time of year, it normally runs anywhere from $476 to $596 per night but for March 3 and 4, the room is selling for $1,331 per night, about 180% above the normal rate.
While other luxury hotels in the White House’s vicinity appear to have standard rates for the nights of March 3 and 4, it was an opportunity for Trump’s hotel to make more money even though the rooms were to be taken by his supporters.
However, Trump’s expected victory did not happen despite his several attempts as Joe Biden has been inaugurated.
