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Jill Biden’s panda costume sends QAnon crowd into Halloween fervor

Jill’s costume led conspiracy theorists to begin discussing “Panda Eyes.”

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Mikael Thalen

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In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.


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First Lady Jill Biden has conspiracy theorists losing their minds after wearing a panda costume at the White House on Wednesday.

Jill wore the costume as she passed out candy to trick-or-treaters alongside her husband, President Joe Biden, while hosting a Halloween event on the White House South Lawn.

While much of the attention was on Joe, who went viral after playfully munching on multiple babies, Jill’s costume led conspiracy theorists to begin discussing “Panda Eyes.”

What are ‘panda eyes’?

According to followers of QAnon, pandas, or the black circles around pandas’ eyes, are a secret symbol meant to signify pedophilia and child abuse.

As proclaimed by one user on X, panda eyes “are Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) pedophile codes/signifiers” and are caused by “blunt force trauma.”

“The eyes can severely bruise and swell up with black circles (periorbital ecchymosis/hematoma) creating the ‘panda eyes’ effect,” the user wrote.

Disgustingly, QAnon fans on X began spreading images of battered children across the platform while claiming it as proof of an Illuminati ritual.

“Jill Biden dressed up as a Giant Panda for Hollaween last night,” another wrote. “This is very disturbing, especially given the facts surrounding what Panda Eyes mean.. in regards to children.”

Others attacked anyone who refused to believe Jill was involved in satanic child abuse by arguing that they weren’t “awake” to the truth.

“Some of you still don’t know what Panda Eyes mean…” another user continued. “If you think this was just a random costume choice for the Joe Biden White House Halloween Party, you still aren’t awake.”

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Why did Jill Biden wear a panda costume?

Yet, as is nearly always the case, the conspiracy theory is utter nonsense. Jill chose the costume as a “welcoming gesture” just days after the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. received two new pandas. Jill even took part in the zoo’s official announcement about the pandas’ return in May.

The arrival was a big deal for the nation’s capital and the country, given that just one year prior another pair of pandas at the zoo, on loan from China, returned to their homeland.

China has sent pandas to U.S. zoos to pursue diplomatic objectives. In fact, the practice, which has been going on for decades, is known as “panda diplomacy.”

But of course, even a friendly and fun gesture is viewed with suspicion by conspiracy theorists, who are convinced that secret symbols about satanic child abuse surround them.


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