Trump brought conspiratorial claims into the White House presidency itself

Evidence

Trump is the embodiment of the new conspiracism on frequent, sometimes daily, public display: the “deep state” planted a spy in his 2016 campaign; MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was involved in the death of one of his staffers; Justice Antonin Scalia might have been murdered (“They say they found a pillow on his face, which is a pretty unusual place to find a pillow”); and, of course, Obama was not born in the United States (Trump’s investigators “can’t believe what they’re finding”). From the day Trump took office, conspiracism had a home in the White House. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 157

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Fringe conspiracy talking points migrated directly into a presidential campaign via its candidate — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 20; Conspiracy theorists gained direct access to US federal power in 2016. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 21; Trump’s conspiracism is self-generated to affirm a victimized and grandiose self-image — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 158 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Presidential office converts personal conspiracism into publicly authoritative claims #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 169
• Conspiracy theories held by a president can be enacted into reality #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 177
• Presidential recognition power makes conspiracism uniquely divisive at the top #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 145
• Presidential politics mainstreamed conspiracy theory speech #expands (0.85) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 449
• Trump’s early presidency began with a pattern of easily verifiable false claims #exemplifies (0.80) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 25
• The Trump administration elevated Islamophobic figures who shared his conspiracy beliefs. #exemplifies (0.80)
• Trump treats truth as socially confirmed approximation rather than correspondence to fact #expands (0.80) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 339
• Presidential conspiracism functions as willful arbitrary rule #expands (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 312
• The 2016 Trump era mainstreamed conspiracy-peddling anti-immigrant and white-supremacist groups #exemplifies (0.80) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 30
• Trumpspeak treats belief and usefulness as substitutes for factual truth #expands (0.80) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 342
• A president’s conspiracism coerces officials into accommodation and distorts governance #complicates (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 170