Conspiracy theorists gained direct access to US federal power in 2016.

Evidence

Soon after, the United States narrowly elected a conspiracy enthusiast as its president, a man who wrongly believes that vaccines cause autism, that global warming is a hoax perpetuated by the Chinese “in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” as he tweeted in 2012, and who claimed, for attention and political gain, that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. And one of the first people President-elect Trump called after his thunderous upset victory was Alex Jones. In fact, Trump found time to call Jones along with a few—oddly prioritized—world leaders before he or any member of his transition team had contacted anyone at the Pentagon or the State or Justice Departments. Then, in a very short time, some of the most wild-eyed conspiracymongers in the country were influencing federal policy and taking meetings at the White House. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 21

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the vault’s thesis linking conspiracy epistemology to actual political power structures and the mechanisms of prejudice-psychology; echo of other claims about anti-democratic currents entering the mainstream. — connects to: Conspiracy theories held by a president can be enacted into reality — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 177; Conspiracy belief inside power drives state actions, not just civilian politics — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 82; The Trump administration elevated Islamophobic figures who shared his conspiracy beliefs. (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy belief inside power drives state actions, not just civilian politics #expands (0.92) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 82
• Conspiracy theories held by a president can be enacted into reality #expands (0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 177
• Trump brought conspiratorial claims into the White House presidency itself #expands (0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 157
• The Trump administration elevated Islamophobic figures who shared his conspiracy beliefs. #exemplifies (0.85)
• The 2016 Trump era mainstreamed conspiracy-peddling anti-immigrant and white-supremacist groups #corroborates (0.80) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 30