“thought-terminating clichés” meant to stop QAnon believers from questioning the movement. Lifton explains thought-terminating clichés as “highly reductive, definite-sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed” that can be repeated to prevent deeper thought. In QAnon, believers tell one another to “trust the plan” when everything in the world suggests there is no plan. When a Q prophecy fails to come true, they reassure themselves with the phrase “disinformation is necessary”—meaning that whatever QAnon prediction failed was really just a ruse posted by Q to confuse his enemies.
