Proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory should seek mental help, says US Democratic nominee Joe Biden as fears grow over violence to keep President Donald Trump in the power after a possible loss in the 2020 presidential election.
QAnon followers view Trump as a hero fighting against a cabal of child-sex predators, including prominent Democrats.
"I've been a big supporter of mental health," said the former vice president. "I'd recommend the people who believe it maybe should take advantage, while it still exists, of the Affordable Care Act."
He further slammed the theory as "dangerous" and "embarrassing," at his campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, decrying the Republican nominee's refusal to acknowledge it.
"What in God's name are we doing? Look at how it makes us look around the world. It's mortifying. It's embarrassing, and it's dangerous," Biden said. "If the president doesn't know better, which he has to know better, then my Lord we're in much more trouble than I ever thought we were."
"This can't go on. This cannot go on. It's the deconstruction of our democratic system." he added.
The FBI last year included QAnon in a warning about "conspiracy-theory-driven domestic extremists."
"The words of a president matter. Even a lousy president," Biden said. "It gives encouragement to people who are spouting irrational views that no one has even close to presuming or showing ever existed."
In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election in November, there are rising concerns that QAnon followers could add to spread of hate and violence already gripping the divided America.
Biden's primary rival, Bernie Sanders, raised concerns earlier that Trump could refuse to leave office if he loses reelection in November 2020.
This is while, the Democratic nominee is preparing for a transition of power after a possible victory in the race.
“We are preparing for this transition amid the backdrop of a global health crisis and struggling economy,” former Senator Ted Kaufman, who is leading the transition team, told Reuters. “This is a transition like no other, and the team being assembled will help Joe Biden meet the urgent challenges facing our country on day one.”
Other members of the team include former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, former US national security advisor Susan Rice and former deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.