Conspiracy believers resent their beliefs being called mere theories.

Evidence

Lafayette Square is just across the street from the White House, and the people in the crowd were die-hard believers in Pizzagate, the theory (I would get in trouble several times that day for calling it one) that Comet Ping Pong, a pizza place in northwest DC, was the site of a child-sex-trafficking ring—one with ties to Hillary Clinton. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 215

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes vault material on epistemic style of conspiracy/authoritarian belief and refusal of pluralist framing.