While there are many factors in Donald Trump’s rise to the top of the list of Republican presidential nominees, one of the most bizarre is his use of conspiracies. Political conspiracies are nothing new, but Trump’s endorsement of conspiracies is unprecedented in American politics. No modern politician has so successfully and routinely employed conspiracy theories as Trump.
Trump enjoys flirting with fringe and extremist elements, including conspiracy theorists. Trump has also appeared on the radio show of noted conspiracy advocate Alex Jones, who has repeatedly claimed that the Obama administration has faked or staged domestic shootings (including the Sandy Hook school massacre) as a pretext for confiscating Americans’ guns.