TOPLINE
President Trump on Monday claimed that his opponent Joe Biden was being controlled by people “in the dark shadows” and that a “plane loaded with thugs” was set to disrupt the Republican National Convention last week — two statements that signal a deepening reliance on fringe conspiracy theories as the election draws nearer.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE – AUGUST 28: President Donald Trump speaks at an airport hanger at a … [+]
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KEY FACTS
After Trump accused Biden of being under the thumb of the “left-wing mob,” earlier in the day, Ingraham asked Trump who he thought was “pulling Biden’s strings.”
Trump, without providing details, accused Biden of being controlled by “people in the dark shadows” and when pressed by Ingraham whether he was floating a conspiracy theory, Trump said there were people “you haven’t heard of,” including “thugs” wearing “dark uniforms” who had boarded a plane to “do big damage” at the GOP convention last week.
Trump refused to specify who these people were or how they were connected to Biden, only to say that they were under “investigation.”
Trump’s “dark shadows” claim echoed the claims of the far-right theory QAnon, which the president has twice refused to disavow, and whose supporters believe the president is engaged in a battle to take down a “deep state” child sex trafficking network run by Democrats and Hollywood actors.
Trump’s claim that mobsters boarded a plane to the RNC was similarly floated by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) over the weekend in an interview with Fox News, who said the protesters that confronted and heckled him were part of an “interstate criminal traffic being paid for across state lines.”
While Trump offered no evidence for his claim, the theory may trace back to a viral, debunked Facebook post from June, when a man in Emmett, Idaho, posted about “at least a dozen males” associated with Antifa who boarded a plane in Seattle to come to Idaho to launch an unspecified “attack”; the post racked up thousands of engagements and was championed by supporters of QAnon, as NBC News first reported.
Key background
In June, armed militia members took to the streets in Idaho to combat Antifa “threats” that never came as the theory spread among local Facebook groups there. One local Idaho police station, the Payette County Sheriff’s Office, received so many calls about the conspiracy theory it was forced to debunk the claim in a post on Facebook: “The Payette County Sheriff’s Office has not had contact with and has not verified that Antifa is in Payette County,” the post read. “The Payette County Sheriff’s Office has not given any specific warnings to our citizens about Antifa or other organizations. The information in this social media post is not accurate.”
Crucial quote
Before departing for his visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, Trump rambled again about the conspiracy theory, claiming a person, who he did not name, on a plane said their “entire plane filled up with the looters, the anarchists, rioters, people looking for trouble.”
Tangent
Trump’s “deep shadows” comment delighted QAnon supporters online, who scour the internet for clues to validate their conspiracy theory and took to Twitter to muse what the president had meant by the comment.
Surprising fact
The Trump campaign has tried to paint as mentally fickle and at the behest of outside, radical forces for months. Before departing for Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that Biden “doesn’t know he’s alive.”
Further reading
Trump’s ‘plane loaded with thugs’ conspiracy theory matches months-old rumor (NBC News)