Tag: Trump conspiracy theories

Trump Just Got Even Cozier With QAnon

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Two major QAnon influencers were given official press credentials to the latest Trump rally held in Sarasota, Florida over the weekend, signaling a new level of acceptance of the QAnon conspiracy theory by the former president and his team.

In the build up to last November’s election, Trump repeatedly failed to directly condemn QAnon, instead calling them “people that love our country” and who “like me very much.”

Now Trump, who QAnon supporters—and much of the Republican party—believe is still the rightful president, appears willing to embrace QAnon even further, by handing two of the movement’s most influential voices official press passes to his rally. Continue reading.

Donald Trump Is Gone, But QAnon’s Sex Trafficking Conspiracies Are Here To Stay

After years of propaganda and misleading statistics, child sex trafficking conspiracies have become a gateway to right-wing extremism.

Christine Priola had worked in the Cleveland public school district for nearly 20 years when she resigned suddenly on Jan. 7, the day after she stormed the US Capitol, marching into the Senate chamber with a sign that said, “The children cry out for justice.”

“I will be switching paths to expose the global evil of human trafficking and pedophilia, including in our government and children’s services agencies,” she wrote in her resignation letter.

“This world is run on the blood of innocent children, please look into it,” she told a local news crew a few days later. Continue reading.

Rabidly pro-Trump ‘news’ network OAN goes silent on Facebook and YouTube

OANN has scrubbed its website of links to the network’s accounts on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

One America News Network (OANN), a far-right conservative media outlet, has not posted any videos to its Facebook or YouTube accounts in over a month.

The social media blackout by OANN, which has been closely affiliated with Donald Trump and has for years been a leading source of pro-Trump conspiracy theories and disinformation, has come since President Joe Biden was sworn into office and as he has gone about seating his Cabinet and undoing many of Trump’s policies.

The last time a video was posted to the OANN YouTube account was Jan. 9. The most recent video posted to Facebook by OANN was uploaded on Jan. 8. The network has a large following on both of those platforms, with 1.5 million followers on Facebook and 1.4 million YouTube subscribers. Continue reading.

QAnon and the storm of the U.S. Capitol: The offline effect of online conspiracy theories

What is the cost of propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories? Democracy and public safety, to name just two things. The United States has received a stark lesson on how online propaganda and misinformation have an offline impact.

For months, Donald Trump has falsely claimed the November presidential election was rigged and that’s why he wasn’t re-elected. The president’s words have mirrored and fed conspriacy theories spread by followers of the QAnon movement. 

While conspiracy theorists are often dismissed as “crazy people on social media,” QAnon adherents were among the individuals at the front line of the storming of Capitol Hill. Continue reading.

Trump turns on everyone

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President Trump, in his final days, is turning bitterly on virtually every person around him, griping about anyone who refuses to indulge conspiracy theories or hopeless bids to overturn the election, several top officials tell Axios.

The latest: Targets of his outrage include Vice President Pence, chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Secretary of State Pompeo and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Why it matters: Trump thinks everyone around him is weak, stupid or disloyal — and increasingly seeks comfort only in people who egg him on to overturn the election results. We cannot stress enough how unnerved Trump officials are by the conversations unfolding inside the White House. Continue reading.

Trump’s crackpot ideas will get us killed

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The President of the United States is warning of commercial planes “completely loaded with thugs wearing…dark uniforms” and the dangers of canned soup in the hands of protestors. On Wednesday, he recommended that his supporters in North Carolina vote-by-mail and then attempt to vote again in person, which is a crime.

My ten-year-old son has taken to pointing at these stories on the television and laughing in disbelief, “Look! Look at what this moron said now! Watch out for ninjas with the Cream of Mushroom! You can’t vote twice in an election, you idiot!”

That’s where my household is with this spectacle. Maybe in some other households, it passes muster or simply goes unnoticed. Continue reading.

CNN abruptly cuts interview after Trump aide refuses to offer evidence to back up their conspiracy theory

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On Tuesday, CNN anchor John Berman confronted President Donald Trump’s campaign communications strategist Tim Murtaugh about the president’s baseless claim about a plane “loaded with thugs” intent on causing riots.

“Tim, what specifically is he talking about there?” asked Berman.

“I don’t have access to the same information the president has,” said Murtaugh. “But John, let me ask you a question about this. The people we saw harassing folks outside the White House in Washington Thursday night, those people knew the names of regular Americans coming out of the White House—” Continue reading.

Trump Spread Multiple Conspiracy Theories on Monday. Here Are Their Roots.

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In a wide-ranging interview with the Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday night, President Trump spread multiple conspiracy theories about the protests that have erupted across the nation. Many of his unfounded claims can be traced back to narratives that have been swirling online for months.

Here are three of the baseless conspiracy theories that Mr. Trump spread and where they came from.

A plane ‘loaded with thugs’ headed to the Republican convention.

During the interview with Ms. Ingraham, Mr. Trump claimed that “we had somebody get on a plane from a certain city this weekend, and in the plane it was almost completely loaded with thugs, wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms, with gear and this and that.” Continue reading.

Conservative columnist unpacks why Trump’s ‘people in the dark shadows’ comment was so troubling

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“Dark Shadows” isn’t only the name of a 1960s/early 1970s soap opera about vampires, witches and werewolves — it is also a phrase that President Donald Trump is using to rally his far-right base. During a Monday night appearance on Laura Ingraham’s “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News, Trump claimed that “people in the dark shadows” and “people that you haven’t heard of” are working to get Vice President Joe Biden elected in November.

And conservative Never Trump journalist Bill Kristol, in an article for The Bulwark, points to those comments as examples of Trump’s love of conspiracy theories.

“Perhaps one shouldn’t…. be too alarmed by a politician claiming his opponent is being manipulated by men operating in the dark shadows,” Kristol writes. “Politicians exaggerate and even make up things. It’s life in a democracy. But this wasn’t just any politician. It was the president. And this isn’t just any president. It’s one who’s not been afraid to encourage, or at least excuse, violence by his supporters.” Continue reading.

‘Great going’: Trump praises right-wing activist Laura Loomer after her Florida GOP primary win

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Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist known for headline-grabbing stunts after getting kicked off social media platforms, won a Florida GOP primary on Tuesday — and then was quickly congratulated by her district’s most famous official resident.

President Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago estate is in Loomer’s district, retweeted at least four posts about her win and tweeted himself, “Great going Laura. You have a great chance against a Pelosi puppet!” 

Trump’s public support for a candidate who once called herself a #ProudIslamophobe, has called Muslims “savages,” and has contributed to conspiracy theory site Infowars drew quick backlash from critics. Continue reading.