Patel, who previously served as chief of staff to then–Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, defended his use of the phrase “where we go one, we go all” during an appearance on a podcast hosted by QAnon supporters.

The phrase, shortened to “WWG1WGA.” is regularly used as a rallying cry by followers of the conspiracy theory.

Many followers of the unfounded conspiracy theory believe Donald Trump is secretly in a battle against a global cabal of satanic cannibalistic pedophiles made up of politicians, celebrities and business leaders.

QAnon followers have previously been involved in violent incidents, harassment campaigns and killings after one supposed adherent shot his wife and one of his daughters in Walled Lake, Michigan, on September 11.

Speaking with QAnon podcast host Jeffrey Pedersen on Tuesday, September 27, Patel claimed there was nothing wrong with using the slogan and said he had picked it up from a movie, possibly 1996’s White Squall, in which the phrase is seen on a ship’s bell.

He said: “They [critics] don’t get to define what we mean when we say something. ‘Where we go one, we go all’ is, as you said, from a great movie that I watched a long time ago and people took to it.

“And so what? It doesn’t mean everyone is a conspiracy theorist and people keep asking me about this Q stuff. What does it matter? What I’m telling you is that there’s truth in a lot of things that many people say and what I’m putting out there is the truth.”

He continued: “And why don’t we have some fun along the way? There’s so many people who subscribe to the ‘where we go one, we go all’ mantra and, what’s wrong with it?”

Patel, who is also a children’s book author, told Pedersen he signed the slogan in 10 of his books.

“Let’s have fun. Let’s put 10 signatures of ‘where we go one, we go all’ and let’s not sell them above the normal price, let’s just give them away in the lottery system,” Patel said.

Patel was named in the affidavit that was used to retrieve classified documents from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Following the revelation, former FBI assistant director Frank Figliuzzi told SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah on his show: “Kash Patel better get an attorney soon.

“Because Kash Patel was the guy saying, ‘I knew all about this standing declassification order. I know all about it.’”

James A. Beverley, a research professor at Tyndale University in Toronto and author of The QAnon Deception, said Kash should be wary of using the slogan as it the conspiracy is based on falsehoods.

But he did praise Patel for challenging the media’s handling of Trump and alleged it had covered up details about Hunter Biden’s laptop and criticized it for claiming Trump’s 2016 victory was delivered by the Russian government, known as Russiagate.

He told Newsweek: “The most important thing to say about Kash Patel is to compliment him for his courage in fighting against the false narratives in mainstream media about Trump.

“As a minor note, there is a price for him to pay by using the slogan WWG1WGA that is most commonly used in the QAnon world,” Beverley said.

“Kash, like all Republicans, should be deeply concerned about QAnon, given the falsity of its core idea (that a figure named Q worked closely with DJT) and the flagrant stupidity in many QAnon views, especially since the regular Q stopped posting almost two years ago.

“President Trump and other Republicans should realize that QAnon hurts their brand by its wackiness (Trump had John McCain executed and the Mueller investigation was a false flag, for example).

“The QAnon followers are already part of the Republican world. Fine, but what Q followers need is to do their own house cleaning and get rid of the truly wacky and bizarre theories that circulate in the QAnon world.

“Contrary to some Q teachers, JFK Jr. is not alive and hoping to be Trump’s running mate. Likewise, QAnon is a hotbed of false prophecies, especially about statements that ’the Storm is here.’ That’s been said every year since QAnon started in 2017.

“The mainstream targeting of Patel for his use of a slogan, one that is used outside of QAnon circles, would be far easier to handle if that critique was matched by praise for Patel in exposing the Russiagate hoax.

“Likewise, Patel’s alleged danger in using the ubiquitous slogan WWG1WGA is nothing when contrasted with the cost in the mainstream cover-up of the Hunter laptop debacle.”

Newsweek has reached out to a website associated with Patel for comment.

Republicans have been accused of embracing QAnon followers during their campaigns ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump has been accused of courting conspiracy theory followers at his rallies, according to University of Chicago professor Robert Pape.

GOP candidates have flirted with the conspiracy theory, with the QAnon slogan being sung at a fundraiser for election denier and Arizona Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem.

Update 9/29/2022 11:45 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with comments from Beverley.