Has Trump made conspiracy theories mainstream?
5/13/202628 min
From UFOs to 'missing scientists', fringe ideas and conspiracy theories have come to the forefront during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second administration. This week, Washington correspondents Katie Simpson, Paul Hunter and Willy Lowry dig into the long history of conspiracy theories intersecting with American politics. Has Trump made conspiracy theories mainstream?
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Paul Hunter· Host0:29
[upbeat music] This is a CBC podcast. Willie, Katie, what's the wackiest conspiracy theory you've had to read up on since becoming a Washington correspondent? Katie, you first. Go.
Katie Simpson· Co-host0:44
Um, picture this. It is a Saturday in late November in 2020. I am in Washington at a Stop the Steal rally when a woman insists to me that the reason Joe Biden won the 2020 election is that dogs in Michigan, people's pets, voted, and that's why Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. [laughs] And she was dead serious. She looked me straight in the eye, and I'm like, "I don't even know what to do with that." And that was just at the start of- [laughs] ... conspiracy theories around the 2020 election.
Paul Hunter· Host1:23
[laughs] Willie?
Willy Lowry· Co-host1:25
Uh, well, that's amazing, and I do sometimes... You know, the world is probably better