Partisan bias charges escalated into a coup conspiracy narrative

Evidence

Over several months, the effort to delegitimate the special counsel’s investigation changed from charges of partisan bias to a full-blown charge of conspiracy. Trump supporters began to use the term coup; banners on Fox News read, “A Coup in America?” On Fox News, Jeanine Pirro asserted that never in presidential election history had there been “as great a crime or as large a stain on our democracy than that committed by a criminal cabal in our FBI and the Department of Justice who think they know better than we who our president should be.” — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 91

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Partisan identity skews which conspiracist claims people credit — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 36; North-South parliamentary distrust exploded over the coup investigation — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1379; Conspiratorial accusations against a party rise the longer it holds power — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 734 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• North-South parliamentary distrust exploded over the coup investigation #exemplifies (0.85) — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1379
• Qorshel was accused of coup planning for reports that proved prophetic #exemplifies (0.85)
• Rival excluded groups weaponized conspiracy accusations against each other. #exemplifies (0.80) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 311
• Conspiratorial accusations against a party rise the longer it holds power #expands (0.78) — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 734
• Specific claims are subordinate to a superordinate conspiracy narrative #expands (0.75) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 195
• Political actors can legitimize conspiracy theories by inspiring new investigation into them #expands (0.75) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 432