Trump Gets in Bed With Conspiracy Theories

By - Michael Vadon - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42540601.

Donald Trump lies all the time. Just about every sentence he utters is a lie. Fact checkers have worn their pencils to nubs and exhausted themselves in an attempt to keep up with Trump's blistering speed of lying in every single speech he makes.

The most recent numbers from Politifact on Trump's record of lies and truths reveal that just 2% of Trump's statements rank as "true" and a staggering 19% rank as "pants on fire" lying (as of 14 June 2016). More than three-quarters of Trump's statements are mostly false or worse.

Source: Politifact

One of the most popular types of lies upon which Trump relies is the conspiracy theory.

This type of lie is easy to spot because it's almost always book-ended with Trump uttering "I don't know, I don't know" a few times. It's like he's trying to tone down the ridiculousness of his comments without actually retracting the comments.

You might see something like:

"I don't know, I don't know, maybe the sun revolves around the earth. I don't know, I really don't know. Listen, we just don't have enough information right now. Does the sun revolve around the earth? Maybe. I don't know. It might. I just can't say."

He floats a ridiculous idea that has no basis in fact, and then tries to soften the blow with a careless shrug, a smirk, and a wave of his tiny hands.

Take his comments in an interview last year in July with CNN's Anderson Cooper:


Trump's response to Anderson Cooper's question about President Obama's birthplace was a repeated "I don't know, I don't know."

Trump's latest theory is that President Obama invites terrorists to the United States because he sympathizes with them and is a secret Muslim. Because we've all seen Obama breaking out the prayer mat in the Oval Office to face Mecca every few hours, right? The LA Times describes Trump's conspiracy theories well and suggests there are two distinct types:

"In the first, Trump tries to cast suspicion on his political rivals. The most infamous example of this was when he implied that Ted Cruz’s dad was mixed up with the JFK assassination, citing the National Enquirer as his source... The second category is more ideological. Trump at his core is a nationalist, and nationalists are especially likely to embrace Enemy Outside stories."

Trump just says whatever he wants, and damn the consequences. He never really gets in any trouble even when he says absolutely ridiculous things. Honestly, he's a better Teflon Don than John Gotti ever was. Trump famously said:

"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters."

Trump's latest conspiracy theory comes right after one of the most devastating events to occur on American soil: the Orlando nightclub massacre. Almost 50 people dead and countless more wounded, and all Trump cares about is congratulating himself and making dumb comments about President Obama. Trump actually called for President Obama to resign because of the Orlando shooter and said in an interview:

"Look, we're led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind."

Trump has spent a lot of airtime insulting President Obama and launching conspiracy theories. Trump's favorite newspaper, The Washington Post, offers a video that shows how the presumptive presidential nominees - Trump and Clinton - responded to the Orlando massacre.

Steve Bennen with The Rachel Maddow Show offers an excellent response to Trump's verbal frivolity:

"Maybe Trump and his team have decided if the GOP candidate uses a firehose to spew nonsense, the sheer volume will become overwhelming, making it easier for him to get away with antics that might otherwise doom a traditional White House contender."

Trump has certainly dialed up the rhetoric on Muslims and immigration since the Orlando massacre. However, since 80% of terrorist attacks in the United States have been committed by Americans since 9/11, maybe The Donald should rethink his rhetoric about foreigners and immigrants. Isn't it time we locked up all the angry white men in our country?