The Pizza Gate, then Q Anon adjacent movement turned into “save the children” from trafficking, which is an ostensibly good cause except that they don’t seek out actual traffickers or predators, they merely weaponize the accusations against their political and cultural opponents. Who could disagree with stopping child abuse after all, it’s a powerful rhetorical bludgeon when people aren’t really following what’s going on. Epstein stuff definitely added fuel to the fire too

I don’t think you should underestimate how much Covid has united cranks and reactionaries of all sorts against the corrupt and incompetent Democrats and the liberal and sadly progressive signifiers they hide behind. Formerly apolitical young people have been swept up in it, anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine, Q-anon, anti-groomer, homophobia, transphobia is all at a fever pitch and forming a political coalition.

Their narrative is that the liberals are making all the kids trans and/or gay to sexually abuse and traffic them, hence the “grooming” accusations. Like you say, most predators and abusers are on the right and in power, whereas actual progressives have basically no power whatsoever.