Ezra Klein started one of his recent podcasts by telling a joke about a tour. Basically, a conspiracy theorist dies and goes to heaven. God was there to greet him and explained that as part of the celestial welcome he would answer any questions from men.
“Please, I have to know this answer,” said the man, “Who killed John Kennedy?” God replied immediately, “It’s easy: Lee Harvey Oswald.” The man murmured in shock, “This is higher than I thought!”
This is the dilemma that Donald Trump found himself. Whether he is biased and distracted to deflect and distract Jeffrey Epstein Morass, it only deepens suspicion, including those about the relationship between two men.
According to a recent Reuters/IPSOS poll, 69% of Americans, including 62% of Republicans, believe the government is hiding what Epstein calls a list of clients. This is understandable; there are many unresolved questions about Epstein. How did he become so rich? What are the mountains of computer files and videos recovered from his house and property? Since he had tried to commit suicide once in prison, why did he not receive proper surveillance afterwards?
But for Trump, there is a bigger problem. Since the allegations of “Birther” against Barack Obama, he has encouraged, riding and profiting from a wave of conspiracy theories that accuse the so-called deep states of alleged crimes and then quickly covered up.
Now, he presides over the state and controls all the secrets. Why didn’t he reveal them?
Conspiracy theory has a long and rich history in the United States. Americans resided as second-class citizens of the British Empire, far from the authoritative center of London. They imagined hatching various plots in London to keep them subordinate and enslaved. This became what historian Richard Hofstadter called “the paranoid style in American politics” in 1964, and regularly erupted with fanatical fears about Freemasons, Catholics, Jews, bankers and Communists.
Joseph McCarthy defines the modern era of conspiracy theory, accusing the U.S. government of having been taken over by traitors and spies.
Journalist Anna Merlan, who is the latest in the story in a 2019 book, Republic of Lies, believes that conspiracy theory has become mainstream politics in recent decades. Unlike the early days, when conspiracy theorists were mostly powerless outsiders, they are now central (and increasingly normal) figures in American political and cultural life.
Donald Trump is the main character in this story, taking power and returning to power after actively promoting productivism, election fraud and many other conspiracies. He also brought mainstream people like Alex Jones and Kash Patel, who worked on more extreme theories and hints. Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, spreads Hillary Clinton’s lies with children’s sex rings.
The challenge for Trump is that he has long incited the flames of anti-statistics and anti-privateism, and he now sits in the White House, running the country and its elites. His administration released thousands of archives of murders by Kennedy International Airport, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
No smoking gun reveals any major conspiracy, but no one in the government can fully acknowledge it. This shows that the previous administration and elites did not actually lie to the American people. But this is done to lose credibility with the base.
Trump is a clever politician who knows how to deal with his base. But this time, it was tough even for him – maybe because he obviously had some kind of relationship with Epstein. He tried to divert attention by proposing other conspiracy theories – mainly Obama tried to organize a coup against him.
He made old charges about Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. But they all feel hopeless about them.
As Charlie Warzel pointed out on the Atlantic Ocean, on July 20, there were growing questions about Epstein, and Trump posted 33 truth-splitting times. He asked the Washington Commander football team to rename its name to the Redskins and shared an AI-generated video saying Obama was handcuffed by the FBI in front of a smiling Trump in the Oval Office.
FBI Director Patel recently claimed in Joe Rogan’s podcast that he found a secret vault in the FBI full of dark secrets that no one has ever seen before. Forget Epstein, they seem to be saying it; it turns out that hundreds of conspiracy theories hang in front of Maga’s faithfulness.
Trump’s fierce reaction to the Epstein incident may only deepen public distrust of institutions and politicians, create more online radicalization, and further hollow out our polarized political ecosystem. But he was playing with big fire, which might be the first time, if he didn’t consume him, and then burned him to death.
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