Has Donald Trump ever met a conspiracy theory he didn’t like? Talking Points Memo rounds up a list of the conspiracy theories he has embraced, and there sure are a lot of them. Trump is especially fond of conspiracy theories about President Obama—birtherism and beyond—but it’s not just that. Essentially, he’s a presidential nominee with the ability to sniff out BS of that one Facebook friend who regularly shares fake news thinking it’s real.
On Obama:
Trump Claims People At Columbia Don't Remember Obama
During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2011, Trump told an audience, according to Politifact, that "our current president came out of nowhere. Came out of nowhere," Trump said. "In fact, I'll go a step further: the people that went to school with him, they never saw him, they don't know who he is. It's crazy."
Trump Again Casts Doubt On How Obama Got Into The Ivy Leagues
In an interview with the Associated Press in April 2011, Trump openly theorized that Obama was not smart enough to get into Columbia and Harvard.
"I heard he was a terrible student, terrible," Trump told the Associated Press. "How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard? I'm thinking about it, I'm certainly looking into it. Let him show his records."
In other words, even if the black president was born here, he’s an illegitimate president in some other major way. Can’t possibly be for real. But then again, Trump also believes (or has believed at some point, for long enough to say publicly) that climate change is a Chinese conspiracy, that Ted Cruz’s father was somehow involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and that Justice Antonin Scalia may have been murdered. Whether Trump is just not that bright or sees personal advantage in promoting ludicrous conspiracy theories, it’s clear that he’d be a dangerous president.
Fifty days remain until the election. Click here to make sure you're registered to vote. And while you're at it, make sure your family and friends are registered too.