WASHINGTON — As a candidate, Donald J. Trump claimed that the United States government had known in advance about the Sept. 11 attacks. He hinted that Antonin Scalia, a Supreme Court justice who died in his sleep two years ago, had been murdered. And for years, Mr. Trump pushed the notion that President Barack Obama had been born in Kenya rather than Honolulu, making him ineligible for the presidency.
None of that was true.
Last week, President Trump promoted new, unconfirmed accusations to suit his political narrative: that a “criminal deep state” element within Mr. Obama’s government planted a spy deep inside his presidential campaign to help his rival, Hillary Clinton, win — a scheme he branded “Spygate.” It was the latest indication that a president who has for decades trafficked in conspiracy theories has brought them from the fringes of public discourse to the Oval Office.
Former aides to the president, speaking privately because they did not want to embarrass him, said paranoia predisposed him to believe in nefarious, hidden forces driving events. But they also said political opportunism informed his promotion of conspiracy theories. For instance, two former aides said Mr. Trump had resisted using the term “deep state” for months, partly because he believed it made him look too much like a crank.
But Mr. Trump saw that it played well in the conservative news media, and so in November, he began using it, the two aides said.
Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide who worked for him when he began championing false claims about Mr. Obama’s birthplace, said the president was reflecting the media that fueled his core supporters.
“In the new media landscape, InfoWars and Fox News are where the president’s getting his support, and these theories are promulgated there,” said Mr. Nunberg
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
None of that was true.
Last week, President Trump promoted new, unconfirmed accusations to suit his political narrative: that a “criminal deep state” element within Mr. Obama’s government planted a spy deep inside his presidential campaign to help his rival, Hillary Clinton, win — a scheme he branded “Spygate.” It was the latest indication that a president who has for decades trafficked in conspiracy theories has brought them from the fringes of public discourse to the Oval Office.
Former aides to the president, speaking privately because they did not want to embarrass him, said paranoia predisposed him to believe in nefarious, hidden forces driving events. But they also said political opportunism informed his promotion of conspiracy theories. For instance, two former aides said Mr. Trump had resisted using the term “deep state” for months, partly because he believed it made him look too much like a crank.
But Mr. Trump saw that it played well in the conservative news media, and so in November, he began using it, the two aides said.
Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide who worked for him when he began championing false claims about Mr. Obama’s birthplace, said the president was reflecting the media that fueled his core supporters.
“In the new media landscape, InfoWars and Fox News are where the president’s getting his support, and these theories are promulgated there,” said Mr. Nunberg
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
