From 'dark shadows' to 'thugs' on a plane, Trump wades deeper into conspiracy theories as election nears
Michael Collins, John Fritze and David Jackson USA TODAYWASHINGTON – As the U.S. coronavirus death toll climbed to 185,000 this week, President Donald Trump commandeered
Monday: Trump claimed in a television interview, without offering evidence, that Democratic rival Joe Biden is controlled by people hiding in “dark shadows” and that a planeload of black-uniformed anarchists planned to disrupt the Republican National Convention.
Tuesday: Trump took to Twitter several times to dispel an unfounded Internet rumor that a series of mini-strokes sent him to Walter Reed Medical Center last November. “Never happened to THIS candidate - FAKE NEWS,” he wrote.
Wednesday: Trump retweeted an article from a conservative publication that raised questions about the impact of mail-in voting on the upcoming election and added his own editorial comment. “Rigged election?” he asked.
Trump has long embraced conspiracy theories as a way to attack his critics or divert attention from events that reflect poorly on him or his administration. But the dizzying pace in which he has given oxygen to outlandish tales that are typically the domain of Internet trolls or fringe groups like QAnon suggests the practice
"Conspiracy theories make him powerful,” said Jennifer Mercieca, author of "Demagogue For President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump."
Conspiracy theories "are 'self-sealing' narratives, meaning no evidence is allowed to count against it," said Mercieca, a communications associate professor at Texas A&M University. "The logic of conspiracy prevents it from ever being proven or disproven. If you try to fact-check it, conspiracists say, ‘The truth is out there. They are suppressing it.'"
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Coverage of the November presidential election has been occasionally been subsumed by the circus – from Trump's dare for Biden to take a drug test before their first debate to his public ruminations about whether Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, is eligible for office. (Harris was born in Oakland, California, and has been a U.S. citizen since birth). The controversies can – fleetingly – distract from the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic fallout and racial strife playing out in many cities.
“Half the time, Trump is trying to distract from COVID with fringe conspiracies and, half the time, he's trying to get cable news attention on himself for promoting conspiracies,” said veteran Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson. “People are disappointed, but not surprised, that he's up to these old tricks.”
'Dark shadow, what is that?'
Trump’s rise to political power was fueled in part by conspiracy. Trump, a real-estate mogul and television celebrity at the time, was one of the primary proponents of the “birther” movement that falsely claimed that former President
Trump has perpetuated conspiracy theories throughout his presidency.
The president's impeachment late last year was triggered by a phone call in which he pressured the Ukraine's to investigate unfounded reports that Biden
Now that Biden has formally accepted his party's nomination to run against Trump in the November election, the president is circulating more unproven tales and at a faster clip.
“I don’t even like to mention Biden because he’s not controlling anything,” Trump said during an interview Monday night with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, echoing his often-repeated claim that Biden is a puppet of the radical left. Biden, he argued, is controlled by “people that you’ve never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows.”
The assertion appeared to flummox Ingraham, a commentator who agrees with Trump on many issues. "What does that mean? That sounds like conspiracy theory," she said. "Dark shadow, what is that?"
In the same interview, Trump claimed – without evidence – that “thugs” in “black uniforms” had boarded a plane bound for Washington, where they intended to disrupt the Republican convention. When Ingraham asked for details, he replied: “I’ll tell you sometime. It’s under investigation right now.”
The next day, Trump added to the story, telling reporters he had been told about the flight by someone who was a passenger. He refused to identify his source.
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'Excruciating poison'
In recent weeks, Trump has spread unproven theories that Biden is taking “enhancement” drugs and seemed to breathe life into a conspiracy that Harris is ineligible to become president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution makes clear that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen, which means there is no question that Harris is indeed eligible to become president.
"I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements," Trump told reporters at the White House last month. "I have no idea if that’s right. I would’ve – I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president."
Trump also has made false or exaggerated claims about mail-in voting, arguing without evidence that “mailed ballots are corrupt” and that there’s “a lot of fraudulent voting going on in this country.” Though there have been examples of voting fraud, notably in a New Jersey local election this year, experts say voting fraud is exceedingly rare.
In addition, Trump has offered encouragement to QAnon followers (“I’ve heard these are people that love our country,” he said), suggested that bleach and ultraviolet light could kill the coronavirus in patients (experts say that is false) and retweeted a video in which a controversial doctor claims that hydroxychloroquine is a “cure” for COVID-19 and that face masks are unnecessary. The doctor, Stella Immanuel, also has claimed that gynecological problems can be caused by sex with witches and demons during dreams.
Asked by reporters about Immanuel’s bizarre claims, Trump said, “I thought her voice was an important voice.” But, he added, “I know nothing about her.”
Biden’s campaign framed Trump’s conspiracies as a distraction.
“The very last thing American voters are hungry for is more dangerous instability or excruciating poison from this commander in chief,” Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Thea McDonald defended the president by suggesting Biden's team was "grasping at straws." She did not address Trump's conspiracy theories.
Republicans have accused Democrats of concocting conspiracies of their own, such as the notion that Trump won't accept the results of the election if he loses. But Trump himself has added to that speculation by declining to say definitively whether he would accept the results. He also refused to give a definitive answer to that question in 2016.
"I have to see," Trump told Fox News Sunday in July. "I’m not going to just say 'yes.' I’m not going to say 'no,' and I didn’t last time either."
Several Republicans noted that the problem of conspiracy theories slipping into campaign discourse isn’t new phenomena in American politics but acknowledged it has intensified during Trump’s tenure.
Russ Schriefer, a veteran GOP consultant, said the problem has been exacerbated by the ability of conspiracies to race into voters’ consciousness through social media. When voters are looking for quick and easy solutions to complex problems, he said, conspiracy theories can fill in the blanks.
“And certainly, bad actors who are deliberately out there making stuff up, stir the pot and contribute to the problem,” Schriefer said. “Today any campaign is playing whack a mole in shutting down wild theories from both the left and the right.”
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'Mini-strokes' and other gossip
As he has spread unverified stories about Biden and others, Trump has tried to shut down rumors about his own health – in one instance giving them far more attention than they had received in the first place.
Trump and the White House physician took the unusual steps of issuing .
The speculation had, however, swirled around in left-wing circles on social media.
A new book on the Trump presidency by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt features in some of the discussions, even though the book mentioned nothing about "mini-strokes."
Schmidt's book, "Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President," focuses on internal clashes within the Trump administration. One passage in it cites Trump's surprise visit to Walter Reed in November. Schmidt writes that "in the hours leading up to Trump’s trip to the hospital, word went out in the West Wing for the vice president to be on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized."
"Pence never assumed the powers of the presidency, and the reason for Trump’s trip to the doctor remains a mystery," Schmidt wrote.
While Schmidt , a New York Times reporter,
Other Internet users theorized that Trump had suffered what doctors call a Transient Ischemic Attack – a "mini-stroke."
As Trump traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to tour the damage from anti-police demonstrations, the White House issued a statement from presidential physician, Dr. Sean Conley, who said Trump had not suffered a stroke, a mini-stroke or any acute cardiovascular emergencies. Trump used the rumors to go on the attack, arguing it was his critics who are guilty of spreading unsubstantiated claims.
“The president remains healthy, and I have no concerns about his ability to maintain the rigorous schedule ahead of him,” Conley said.
Conspiracy theories and Internet gossip are here to stay no matter who wins in November, predicted Mike DuHaime, a well-known Republican strategist. That's partly because of the increased polarization in American politics.
“It’s not going away after this election,” DuHaime said. “Leaders of both parties, as well as leaders in media and business, should be concerned about how easily too many people fall for conspiracy theories, which is often predicated on a willingness to believe the worst about people different from you.”
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