Donald Trump invented the art of the conspiracy theory. Trump constantly lies it is difficult to determine fact from fiction

 We are all conspiracy theorists now

Echo opinion published in the Boston Globe by Renée Graham

A decade of Trump has warped our sense of truth and facts. 

Frankly, that probably won’t end when his presidency does.

First came the gunshots. Then came the conspiracy theories.

Even before a California man who allegedly tried to assassinate Donald Trump at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association gala on Saturday April 25, was identified, social media was boiling over with speculation that what the Justice Department has charged as an attempt on Trump’s life was fake.

Within minutes, the word “staged” quickly trended on various sites.

It was the kind of spontaneous response that one usually expects from those internet corners where tinfoil is the headgear of choice and where denizens still bicker over the legitimacy of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

But reactions to the shooting weren’t the sole province of the usual “Lone Gunmen” types, who steadfastly believe that the real truth is always lurking out there.

“Has there ever been a president have [sic] this many close ‘attempts’ on their life?” Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas posted on Threads. “Maybe it’s lax gun laws, maybe it’s lack of mental health funding, or maybe it’s fake … who knows … ”❓

Despite no evidence, there is a pervasive sense that this alleged third attempt on Trump’s life in less than two years was concocted to draw attention away from the president’s quagmire of a war in Iran; gas prices averaging more than $4 a gallon; the files where he is named in the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; and the lowest poll numbers in either of Trump’s White House terms.

As usual, Trump did nothing to tamp down the suspicions. It certainly didn’t help that in comments to the media after the rest of the dinner was canceled, he used the shooting to justify restarting construction on that ballroom/bunker that he demolished the East Wing of the White House to build.

Earlier this month, a federal judge allowed construction on the underground bunker to continue for “national security” but halted work on the ballroom, Donald Trump's very unpopular pet project.

“We need the ballroom,” Trump said. He also claimed without proof that the Secret Service and military “are demanding it.” But the only demands came from the MAGA minions on social media, who amplified Trump’s expensive ballroom blitz.

That right-wing offensive only churned even more conspiracies that the alleged assassination attempt was manufactured to promote the necessity of Trump’s 💲400 million ballroom.

This is life when myriad conspiracy theories feed biases and many Americans drift further from the truth. Political polarization has always challenged facts. But no one in recent memory has done more to gut the truth than Trump.

He called the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection a “day of love” and the white supremacist supporters who pummeled police officers and defiled the US Capitol “patriots.” Trump incited that insurrection after he lied that the 2020, presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden was “rigged” and “stolen” from him.

In 2024, Trump falsely claimed that Biden took performance-enhancing drugs before his better-than-expected State of the Union address. He lied that Kamala Harris, then vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, used AI-generated images of crowds at her rallies. During a presidential debate, Trump bellowed nonsense about Haitian immigrants eating their neighbors’ pets in Springfield, Ohio.

While what happened at the WHCA event is still being debated, this is unassailable: In a decade where Trump has sowed mistrust, we have all become conspiracy theorists.

As usual, Trump did nothing to tamp down the suspicions. It certainly didn’t help that in comments to the media after the rest of the dinner was canceled, he used the shooting to justify restarting construction on that ballroom/bunker that he demolished the East Wing of the White House to build.

Earlier this month, a federal judge allowed construction on the underground bunker to continue for “national security” but halted work on the ballroom, Donald Trump's expensive and unpopular pet project.

“We need the ballroom,” Trump said. He also claimed without proof that the Secret Service and military “are demanding it.” But the only demands came from the MAGA minions on social media, who amplified Trump’s ballroom blitz.

That right-wing offensive only churned even more conspiracies that the alleged assassination attempt was manufactured to promote the necessity of Trump’s 💲400 million ballroom.

This is life when myriad conspiracy theories feed biases and many Americans drift further from the truth. Political polarization has always challenged facts. But no one in recent memory has done more to gut the truth than Trump.

Trump called the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection a “day of love” and the white supremacist supporters who pummeled police officers and defiled the US Capitol “patriots.” Trump incited that insurrection after he lied that the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden was “rigged” and “stolen” from him.

In 2024, Trump falsely claimed that Biden took performance-enhancing drugs before his better-than-expected State of the Union address. He lied that Kamala Harris, then vice president and the Democratic presidential nominee, used AI-generated images of crowds at her rallies. During a presidential debate, Trump bellowed nonsense about Haitian immigrants eating their neighbors’ pets in Springfield, Ohio.
, Trump claimed that Iran bombed one of its own elementary schools, killing more than 170 girls, on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran, even though evidence points to US culpability.

It’s gotten to the point that even within MAGA, some don’t believe Trump. A recent story in Wired revealed how some of Donald Trump's followers now believe that the first assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania., in July 2024, was staged by Trump.

Without question, the proliferation of AI has blurred the line between what is and isn’t real. That’s an assault on truth, but so is a president who🤥  lies as easily as he breathes.

Like Trump, too many no longer seem to care about evidence before they spread conspiracies to foster their specific worldviews. With social media as an accelerant, measured voices of reason don’t stand a chance, and that won’t end when Trump’s final term ends.

Under the treacherous rule of the most mendacious president in American history, we’ve become Generation Trust No One. And while conspiracies may offer false comfort especially in times of strife, they also become a coffin for truth.

We’ve been polluted by a man hostile toward facts and immune to honesty. That’s what Trump wants. Authoritarians thrive as self-anointed arbiters of information that is skewed, false, and only serves themselves and their hunger for power and control.