New conspiracism thrives on innuendo that is only ‘true enough,’ never actually verified.
Evidence
There is one more form the new conspiracism commonly takes: innuendo. In the 2016 campaign, Trump repeated a National Enquirer article that suggested a connection between Senator Ted Cruz’s father and John F. Kennedy’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. As Trump said, “Even if it isn’t totally true, there’s something there.” Or, as Representative Bryan Zollinger (R-ID) said about the allegation that Democratic Party officials had lured white nationalists and antifascist protesters to Charlottesville in 2017 in order to manufacture a violent clash, “I am not saying it is true, but I am suggesting that it is completely plausible.” The power of the new conspiracism is that it is satisfied with an allegation being “true enough,” rather than true—which is the subject of chapter 2. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 68
Categorization
- DEFINE: Identifies innuendo as a third signature form of new conspiracism, satisfied with ‘true enough’ rather than verified truth.
- XREF: connects to: Vague conspiracist forms like innuendo exist to evade accountability for their claims — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 96; New conspiracism floats allegations disconnected from observable reality — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 64; New conspiracism drops explanation and evidence in favor of bare assertion — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 14 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- New conspiracism floats allegations disconnected from observable reality
#corroborates(0.95) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 64 - New conspiracism drops explanation and evidence in favor of bare assertion
#corroborates(0.92) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 14 - New conspiracism lowers the assent bar to mere possibility, without evidence
#corroborates(0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 122 - Bare-assertion conspiracism demands no errant facts to explain
#corroborates(0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 63