Is this how the AP defends itself against widespread criticism of its attempt to manufacture scandal around the Clinton Foundation? “The world’s oldest and largest newsgathering organization” has slapped together a special bit of both-sides-do-it-ism headlined “Welcome to the Trump-Clinton conspiracy election.”
Donald Trump and his surrogates hint at a mysterious "illness" afflicting rival Hillary Clinton. Pushing back, Clinton warns of murky ties between Trump and the Russian government, insinuating that her Republican opponent may be a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
There’s a small difference between claiming that someone is terminally ill because six months ago they tripped on some stairs and pointing to a political candidate’s on the record rhetoric about a world leader, his (now former) adviser’s ties to an ally of said world leader, and his public plea to said world leader’s intelligence agencies to hack his political opponent’s email. Or between claiming that someone has major health issues because they once hesitated in the middle of a sentence and calling for a presidential nominee to do what all nominees have done for decades and release his tax returns, thereby answering questions about his income, charitable giving, tax rate, and, yes, financial ties to Russia.
Clinton has largely avoided discussing the conspiracies, leaving it to members of her campaign team or allies. But she is preparing a Reno, Nevada, address on Thursday that will accuse Trump of supporting an "alt-right" campaign that presents "a divisive and dystopian view of America."
That Trump has alt-right ties is not so much a matter of accusation as of documented fact. You pretty much only have to look at who he retweets to figure that one out.
And if the AP wants to delve into who’s participating in conspiracy theories, they might look at the one about the news agency that dramatically misrepresented a former secretary of State’s schedule to make it look like she was using her position to solicit private donations. I mean, this news agency went so far as to try to make a meeting with a Nobel Peace Prize-winning, Presidential Medal of Freedom-receiving economist look sketchy! Talk about conspiracy coverage.