Why is this file type being pushed so hard? And how come whenever I download a webp it's a blank unusable 1kb file? Are you actually downloading the actual data or just a reference?

Does the Jew who invented webp images know anyone can just right click the image, click copy image, paste it into MS Paint, and save it as a jpg? The only people that you're stopping from stealing your images are computer illiterate people.

Does the Jew who invented WebP know anyone can just right click the image, click copy image, paste it into MS Paint, and save it as a jpg?

If WebP is a format that's browser and bandwidth-focused then my browser should auto-convert images to their underlying MIME type when it saves them.