What will happen to those who believe in conspiracies in the US?
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(CNN) -
At noon on Wednesday, Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States.
They didn't arrest him before.
Nor any of the other high-profile Democratic politicians who attended the inauguration.
Trump did not declare martial law.
He flew to Florida calmly.
And so died one of the longest running and most widespread conspiracy theories of the last four years, organized to some extent under the banner of the group known as QAnon. Followers of the conspiracy theory, which had become something of a wild card conspiracy for people who viewed Trump as some kind of savior figure, were left wondering what the heck happened.
LEE: An inauguration like no other: the highlights of a momentous day
So where does Q go now? Or is it over? I reached out to CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, who has been covering the move for CNN, so I can answer those questions and more.
Below is our conversation, which was via email and is lightly edited for better reading.
Cillizza: QAnon's core belief was that Trump had been implanted by the military and would carry out a raid on Democratic politicians involved in crime. That, uh, didn't happen. Do you have any explanation?
O'Sullivan
: Wednesday was a difficult day for believers in this conspiracy theory.
Reactions have been mixed.
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Some believers seem to realize that they were deceived.
For some of them, it was the confirmation of the suspicions they had had for some time.
They feel that Trump has betrayed them.
I was at a QAnon event in Arizona in October and one of the guys who spoke, a major spreader of the conspiracy theory, was telling the audience to be patient, that even though the conspiracy theory was three years old by then and the big roundup of Democratic politicians had not happened, it would happen, and everything would be fine after Trump's re-election.
LOOK: QAnon sympathizers in Berlin: some say that Trump "is an angel" or that Merkel is "Hitler's daughter"
Guys like that, who have social media accounts and sell QAnon products to cash in on conspiracy theory, are already devising ways to advance conspiracy theory.
Some are even trying to say that Biden is actually a member of QAnon.
What is QAnon and how did it originate?
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The impact of the assault on the Capitol
Cillizza: How much (or how little) was Q affected by the January 6 assault, in which his supporters seemed to play an important role? Did you harm yourself?
O'Sullivan
: January 6 was the physical manifestation of the mob that exists online.
The guy with the horns on his head that is in all the photos of the Capitol and was arrested was a big believer in QAnon.
He was also at that event in Arizona, and I saw him outside of Trump's rally in Dalton, Georgia, two days before the insurrection.
A lot of these guys really thought they could get away with doing this because they believed in the conspiracy theory and they believed they were doing what Trump wanted them to do.
I think seeing them now arrested and eventually prosecuted sends a message to QAnon supporters that they cannot act with impunity.
Although it will also create some QAnon martyrs.
Crude testimony of police officers who defended the Capitol 3:23
Cillizza: Is Trump still defended as a Q hero? Or the fact that he did not keep his promise to him?
O'Sullivan
: That remains to be seen.
QAnon's followers are trying to find a narrative right now.
In a few weeks, if Trump finds a platform to get him back online and starts spreading more disinformation and hatred, he could be QAnon's favorite again.
The most important question of all about QAnon
Cillizza: And now the big question about Q: Is the movement dead? Or will he reorganize around another conspiracy and go on living?
O'Sullivan
: This is the most important question.
In our story posted today, we spoke to a guy who says he's not a follower of QAnon, but does defend some of his conspiracy theories.
I ran into him in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Washington and he was repeating a popular conspiracy among QAnon supporters that Trump would stop Biden's inauguration using martial law.
He also said that the elections had been stolen and that left-wing radicals were responsible for the violence here on January 6.
READ: QAnon believers are confused after Biden's inauguration
I spoke to him again after the inauguration, when reality was settling in.
While he accepted that he was wrong about martial law, for him the lies about the stolen elections and left-wing radicals were still the truth.
And possibly there are millions of Americans who have been indoctrinated in conspiracy theories, and that's not going to go away just because Biden is president.
It could get even worse for some now that major social media platforms are kicking out a lot of QAnon accounts (for now at least), forcing some believers to go to the darkest corners of the internet, where they will see more outlandish theories and they could be further radicalized.
I think one of the big challenges in 2021 is how the United States will handle that issue.
We have a problem of internal radicalization whose core is misinformation.
QAnon