Peak Trump madness: With a month to go, Donald Trump’s supporters descend into conspiracy-theory insanity
"What this has led to is a campaign with millions of followers so deeply mired in convoluted conspiracy theories that they have completely lost touch with reality. Most obvious of these, of course, is the birther conspiracy that held that Barack Obama was not a native-born U.S. citizen and was therefore an illegitimate president. Trump didn’t publicly indulge in the more sinister of theories which suggested that Obama was some sort of “Manchurian candidate” planted by a foreign power. But it fits so well with his xenophobic worldview that it’s fair to assume it played some part in his obsession with the tall tale. During this campaign Trump has “wondered aloud” whether Sen. Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the JFK assassination, suggested that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death was the result of foul play, said that the president personally intervened to persuade the New York attorney general to investigate Trump University for fraud, insisted that neighbors of the San Bernardino shooters had noticed bombs lying all over their house and didn’t say anything and asserted that climate change is a hoax. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the 9/11 hijackers had girlfriends who were spirited out of the country after the attacks and says that 30 percent of the world’s Muslims are prepared to go to war against he U.S. He claims nobody knows where the Syrian refugees who have been admitted into the country are and claims thousands more are pouring over the southern border illegally. He thinks the Mexican government is “sending” all its criminals to America. Additionally Trump believes that the government somehow prevents people from saying “Merry Christmas” in public and that he’s being targeted by the IRS because he’s a Christian. He says crime is the highest it’s been in 45 years. He is convinced that voter fraud is rampant and that Democrats are routinely stealing elections, including the election of President Obama."
