The Wholesale Collapse of Politically-Driven Conspiracy Theories

There are two kinds of conspiracy theories. One is the more traditional type—relatively harmless and relegated to the fringes of society. Roswell and space aliens would be an example. The other is the politically-driven conspiracy theory. This latter form is a new phenomenon and, unlike in the past, can be entirely disingenuous—in other words, a product of political propaganda.

There are two kinds of followers of political conspiracies: the weak-minded and gullible, and the unscrupulously partisan political supporter. These are people who have no qualms about spreading lies purely to gain power. Political conspiracy theories are, in fact, a convoluted rabbit hole of falsehoods and leaps of faith. They’re strung together into an unsubstantiated tale of secrecy, designed to inflame the most ignorant fears and hatreds within a locked-in, energized base.

With Trump winning the election and effectively purging all disloyalty from the ranks of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, expectations were high that the so-called secrets of the Deep State would finally be exposed. Indeed, many people truly believe these conspiracies and thought their day had come. However, this has not been the case. Quite the opposite has happened, especially in regard to the Epstein files. With Trump now poised to pardon the Queen of the Global Pedophiles, he has completely reversed his position and now appears to be aiding the supposed international liberal pedophile ring that the wacko right-wing has been seething about for a decade.

One of the unintended and completely unexpected outcomes of Trump’s second term—at least for the hardcore political conspiracists—is the apparent wholesale collapse of right-wing conspiracies. Neurotic conspiracists, being who they are, will likely use up what brainpower they have left to perform mental gymnastics in order to explain this to themselves. Perhaps they’ll claim newfound concerns for victims, or rethink whether Trump is truly as omnipotent as they once believed.

The fact remains: their precious and energizing fantasies are quickly dissipating. They are currently lost, beweilder and angry. Trump has utter a rare truism by calling them, “stupid people” but left out that he’s always thought that and used their stupidity to win elections.

And those propagandist who never really believed in these conspiracy but promoted them anyways, are now scrambling to exit the situation with as little political damage as possible. However, this will be difficult given the bulldog nature of the press and the fact that conspiracy theories have been a major pillar of their screed. Without these prepackaged, wildly believed fairy tales to rely on, their influence will almost certainly weaken.