The Conspirator-In-Chief

In the weeks leading up to the 2018 midterms, the United States faced an onslaught of right-wing terror. Among these tragic events was the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history, in which eleven were killed and seven were injured in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. Within hours, it was clear that the shooter was motivated by not-so-fringe right-wing conspiracy theories about the migrant caravan from Central America.

The shooter was an active member of Gab, an alternative social network for far-right extremists that is free from the supposed anti-conservative bias of Facebook and Twitter. The shooter’s posts on the website were frequently critical of HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit organization focused on refugee aid, accusing it of “bringing in hostile invaders.”

Hours before the attack, the shooter posted: “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”

The theory that George Soros, a prominent Jewish, progressive philanthropist was funding the migrant caravan was not the shooter’s original idea. In fact, the theory was propagated throughout mainstream conservative circles. On October 17^th, House Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted: “Footage in Honduras giving cash 2 women & children 2 join the caravan & storm the US border @ election time. Soros?”

Two days later, correspondent Chuck Holton of NRATV (yes, the television network of the National Rifle Association) told his viewers that Soros was sending the caravan to the United States so that the left-leaning migrants could vote.

This narrative was then picked up by PragerU, a conservative YouTube channel with nearly 2 million subscribers, which uploaded a video about the Democratic Party’s “open borders” plan to legalize millions of illegal immigrants – and thus, millions of new Democratic voters. The video was narrated by none other than Fox News’ conservative poster boy, Tucker Carlson.

The conspiracy did not slow down from there. On CNN, guest Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union proclaimed: “Because of the liberal judges and other people that intercede, including George Soros, we have too much chaos at our southern border.” On Fox News, an ex-ICE agent said that the caravan would bring smallpox to America.

Instead of squashing these theories, President Trump was quick to amplify these messages as a play for the midterm elections (he admitted to this fact at a rally in Missoula, saying that the midterms will be “an election on the caravan”). On Twitter, Trump referred to the caravan as an “invasion” that contained “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners.”

By the time Americans were heading to the polls, the migrant caravan conspiracy theory represented a grand confluence of classic partisan, racist, and xenophobic conservative fears rolled into one package: globalist Jews were funding a caravan of disease-carrying Latino migrants and Muslim terrorists and it was encouraged by the power-hungry Democratic Party.

Truly. Exhausting.

[su_pullquote]Time and time again, Trump has never shied away from peddling conspiracy theories, and conservative media has always been happy to follow his lead.[/su_pullquote]It is unclear whether this choose-your-own adventure conspiracy theory actually affected the midterm results. What is clearer is that Trump’s takes on the caravan were not out-of-step with his past behavior. Time and time again, Trump has never shied away from peddling conspiracy theories, and conservative media has always been happy to follow his lead.

It is reasonable to say that Trump began his political career as a conspiracy theorist. When announcing that he was seriously considering running for president, Trump claimed to be skeptical of then-President Obama’s citizenship on Good Morning America in 2011. The claim was rated “Pants-on-Fire” by PolitiFact.

Since then, Trump upped the ante on unsubstantiated claims. He implicated Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s father in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, claimed three to five million illegal votes were cast in the 2016 election, doubted the evidence of Russian interference in the election, pandered to the anti-vaccination movement, said Muslims were celebrating on New Jersey roofs on 9/11, asserted that climate change was a hoax that China created to undermine the U.S. economy, claimed that it may not have been his voice on the Access Hollywood tape, and of course, continues to insist on the existence of a “deep state” – among others.

In some of these cases, conservative news outlets unflinchingly aired Trump’s theories as strong possibilities, an absolution tactic that attempts to preserve their vestiges of journalistic integrity. In other cases, these theories are openly endorsed.

When pipe bombs were found in the mail of Democratic leadership and Trump critics days before the midterms, a range of high-profile conservatives embraced a “false flag” narrative: intentionally faulty bombs were sent by a liberal to garner sympathy for Democrats.

On his self-titled, conservative AM radio show (and the number one commercial talk show since record keeping began in 1987), Rush Limbaugh asked, “Would it make a lot of sense for a Democrat operative or Democrat-inculcated lunatic to do it? Because things are not working out the way they thought.”

A slew of tweets on conservative Twitter echoed a similar sentiment. Fox Business host Lou Dobbs posted, “Fake News – Fake Bombs. Who could possibly benefit so much fakery?” Ann Coulter, a political commentator, then added, “bombs are a liberal tactic.”

The speed with which these theories were accepted into mainstream conservative canon is alarming, but unfortunately unsurprising. For instance, Limbaugh and Sean Hannity of Fox News frequently talk about a left-wing cabal called the “Deep State” that is aimed at undermining Trump’s presidency.

Research by Michael Wood of the University of Winchester has shown that an individual’s past acceptance of conspiracy theories is highly predictive of their willingness to accept new ones. By frequently discussing large-scale conspiracy theories like the deep state, conservative talk shows prime their viewers to be more accepting of breaking unsubstantiated news stories.

As evidenced by the Pittsburgh shooting and the mail bombs, the promulgation of these theories is far from harmless – especially when conspiracy theories evolve into greater societal threats.

In October 2017, the deep state theory developed into the QAnon movement, an alt-right family of conspiracy theories. QAnon began as a single post on 4chan by the account Q, an anonymous individual claiming to have classified, top-secret Q clearance in the U.S. government.

Q asserts the existence of a deep state and an international child sex trafficking ring that involves liberal politicians Hollywood actors. The theory also asserts that Trump faked collusion with the Russian government to enlist Robert Mueller in exposing the ring – and in doing so, will prevent a deep state takeover of the government.

All of this nonsense would be hilarious if it was not believed by thousands, propagated by prominent conservatives, and threatening to the people it opposes.

In late 2017, Trump and Hannity began to retweet QAnon-related material, and Trump himself met with Michael Lebron, a prominent right-wing conspiracy theorist and QAnon-believer. By the summer of 2018, self-described followers of Q brandished T-shirts and cardboard Qs at Republican rallies across the country.

Q followers also made death threats against the Justice Department (for withholding information regarding Hillary Clinton’s private email server – which was not true) and Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti (for his general opposition to Trump). Now in the spotlight of the national media, news outlets like the Washington Post, the New York Times, Time, CNN, NBC, and ABC, all ran stories about the movement.

An unfortunate consequence of well-meaning news outlets covering these outlandish statements is that the misinformation is further disseminated – and viewers, especially older ones, often lack the skills to differentiate fact from fiction. A study by the Pew Research Center in October 2018 found that younger Americans, ages 18 to 49, are much better than older Americans, over age 50, at discriminating factual news and opinions.

Other research by Jan-Willem van Prooijen of VU University Amsterdam found that political extremism, especially of the political right-wing, is predictive of belief in conspiracy theories.

It is no secret that older Americans are a key cohort of Trump’s support. According to the Brookings Institution, Americans aged 50 and over have consistently given Trump his highest approval ratings. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that Trump’s base of older conservatives are highly susceptible to conspiracy theories. That bodes well for Fox News hosts like Hannity, whose viewership consists of one of the oldest on television: according to Nielsen, the median viewer of Fox was 66 years old in 2016.

[su_pullquote align=”right”]Conspiracy theories are no longer confined to the dark corners of YouTube or limited to cute stories of extraterrestrial research at Area 51.[/su_pullquote]Conspiracy theories are no longer confined to the dark corners of YouTube or limited to cute stories of extraterrestrial research at Area 51. They have become mainstream and are actively used to disarm viewers of their understanding of the world around them. They are employed by ‘journalists’ and politicians alike. They are used to radicalize partisans and to cast doubt upon American institutions. They are a cause of domestic terrorism. They must now be taken seriously.

[su_pullquote]A president who receives most of his news from cable television and is inclined to spread conspiracy theories does not bode well for American discourse.[/su_pullquote]A president who receives most of his news from cable television and is inclined to spread conspiracy theories does not bode well for American discourse. As ideological polarization widens, the polity’s propensity to accept widely circulated conspiracy theories increases. And as long as Americans continue to exist in wholly separate factual universes, the proverbial ‘reaching across the aisle’ will continue to become a relic of the past.

Garrett Cunningham ‘19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at cunningham.garrett@wustl.edu.