This is bad even by their low standards
Category: Conspiracy theories
Poor wording by the New York Times
The article says:
“Some of the conspiracy theories have already seeped into the Republican mainstream.”
This is crap. The theories didn’t fall out of the sky and land on Republicans. They intentionally spread them.
“Seeped” sounds like it’s unintentional. This is deliberate activity by Republicans. It should be something like “Some mainstream Republicans have tolerated or even supported false conspiracy theories”.
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) November 1, 2022
Right-wing conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi haven’t stopped
They’ve all been debunked but the Trump cult won’t apologize or stop. I’ll bet 1/3 of the country believes their disgusting lies.
It’s a weird derangement when simple human sympathy cannot be summoned for an 82-year-old battered in a home invasion. https://t.co/l2qNCFWGSg pic.twitter.com/5NHSUpqA33
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) October 31, 2022
The DePape charges make very clear that Elon Musk spread homophobic disinformation about the Pelosi attack to downplay the role politics played in it. An absolutely shameful episode illustrating what a clown the guy is. https://t.co/5xCQZXbaZR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 31, 2022
I think Pelosi's attacker is a lot like the guy who shot Scalise. There are two differences.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 31, 2022
1. There seem to be a lot more unstable people motivated to violence on the right.
2. More pundits on the right celebrating the violence.
This incident feels like a turning point. https://t.co/UzoBb1po8T
Thread: The FBI's newly released criminal complaint against the man charged with attacking Pelosi features a summary of a Mirandized interview in which, per the FBI summary, *the man himself* essentially debunks the conspiracy theories about the incident.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 31, 2022
This puts all the conspiracy theories about the Pelosi attack not being politically motivated to rest. Political violence like this is not just normalized in the MAGA movement, it grows there. https://t.co/gv3A0Revbw
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 31, 2022
Over the weekend, watching the reaction to the assault on Paul Pelosi, I just gave up. We are on the very brink of handing the country over to the lost and the mad. https://t.co/lZiBHdCh6L
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) October 31, 2022
A new low for Clarence Thomas?
Clarence Thomas claimed in a dissenting opinion that Covid vaccines are derived from the cells of “aborted children.”
— POLITICO (@politico) June 30, 2022
No Covid vaccines in the U.S. contain the cells of aborted fetuses. https://t.co/13YartfO5Z
Republican spreads rumor that kids are being encouraged to identify as cats
This is extreme even by Republican standards
You know all those stories that keep popping up about schools putting litterboxes in restrooms?
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 12, 2022
You do know that the Libs of TikTok account is the person who first got that rumor to spread as far and wide as it has, right?
And… well… pic.twitter.com/2VCA7aAChJ
Minnesota GOP nominee for governor claimed kids are using litter boxes in schools — it's an internet hoax https://t.co/CJfOogR5CZ
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) October 3, 2022
So this hoax has long been debunked. Republicans are now clearly spreading it with full knowledge that it's a hoax. https://t.co/mH7GYkXDU0
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 28, 2022
The "kid who identifies as a cat and wants to use a litter box" rumor has bubbled up in Michigan, Iowa, and now Nebraska – he attributes it to a "person" but doesn't say what school it allegedly happened at. https://t.co/O7xH78tMf5
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) March 29, 2022
A Nebraska state lawmaker has apologized after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats. https://t.co/abIldrgj3a
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 29, 2022
Why are there multiple blue leaning but in reach of Republicans states this year with gubernatorial candidates claiming children are peeing in litter boxes at schools?
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) October 5, 2022
Right-wing Covid misinformation
The only conspiracy theory for which more Republicans knew the claim to be false than said it was true or were unsure: the idea that the vaccines include microchips.
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 8, 2021
False: 40%
True: 7%
Have heard, but unsure: 21%
The info landscape about Covid-19 is bewildering, with factual and fictional claims competing for attention. And most American adults have heard at least a couple of the fictions, according to new data from @KFF https://t.co/uvuhUAr27r
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 9, 2021
NEW: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy releases a step-by-step toolkit to help people combat misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines in their own close circles. https://t.co/nUk916cNb2
— ABC News (@ABC) November 9, 2021
COVID-19 Misinformation is Ubiquitous: 78% of the Public Believes or is Unsure About At Least One False Statement, and Nearly a Third Believe At Least Four of Eight False Statements Tested https://t.co/kD9tWI8GKZ
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) November 9, 2021
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla calls out people who spread vaccine misinformation:
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2021
“Those people are criminals … they literally costed millions of lives.” pic.twitter.com/4i4QJ847Le
With the approval of the Pfizer Covid vaccine for children, @Kavitapmd debunks widespread myths about the vaccine. https://t.co/pEzEGZRJ0H
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 8, 2021
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, in an interview with the Atlantic Council, said a “very small” group has been responsible for spreading coronavirus vaccine disinformation to the millions who remain hesitant about vaccination https://t.co/Qc1GfO5tEa
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2021
The researchers found that "between a fifth and a quarter of the public believe or are unsure whether the vaccines can give you COVID-19 (25%), contain a microchip (24%), or can change your DNA (21%)."https://t.co/tyVaNIus54
— CNN (@CNN) November 9, 2021
More on Big Bird and vaccinations
In the tradition of right-wing conspiracy theories on Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss.
Satire: Big Bird getting a vaccine (he’s a 6-year-old! He ought to get a vaccine now!) is not communism or government propaganda. This is what it would look like if Big Bird were government propaganda: https://t.co/eAuL9znkIE
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2021
BREAKING: Big Bird is taken into custody after beating the living shit out of Aarron Rodgers for spreading misinformation about Ivermectin and COVID vaccinations. pic.twitter.com/M4f3kjAVG3
— Paul Lee Teeks (@PaulLeeTeeks) November 7, 2021
Big Bird — who is, apparently, just six years old, was one — was persuaded to get vaccinated after listening to Hill and Dr. Gupta. The experts explained to Big Bird how the vaccine helps build up your body’s defenses, should it ever meet any “COVID germs” https://t.co/rR1xrUGQ7h
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) November 8, 2021
More Than 2 Million People Have Watched This Video Clip of Big Bird Getting Vaccinated…From 1972 https://t.co/iebgjF5ksp
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 8, 2021
Biden replies to Big Bird. pic.twitter.com/EpqAtGolLN
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) November 8, 2021
They’re mad at big bird lol pic.twitter.com/S1ToEN5oEc
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) November 6, 2021
BIG BIRD – BIG THREAD pic.twitter.com/cJ77adtIb5
— Francesco Francavilla (@f_francavilla) November 9, 2021
Big Bird got his Pfizer shot, and conservatives are calling it vaccine "propaganda" https://t.co/84dfVx3B58
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2021
Jimmy Kimmel: “It’s interesting because not only is @TedCruz vaccinated himself—Ted Cruz was born with an immunity that protects him from contracting any friends.” https://t.co/1BPpTh0Kjs
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 9, 2021
Big Bird is kind, compassionate, empathetic, loving, adored, and vaccinated. Ted Cruz is . . . vaccinated.
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) November 8, 2021
Not really sure why Big Bird is always getting attacked for being a communist. Republicans went after him in the 1990s and again in 2012. No one ever seems to notice that Elmo is actually … red.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) November 9, 2021
This is a movement. Join us and let's fly Ted Cruz out of Texas. pic.twitter.com/Mrdebb6f6y
— Big Bird for Senate (Parody) (@SenatorBigBird) November 9, 2021
People who get bad information on the vaccine are doing it deliberately
They need to accept responsibility for their own bad decisions. Sure, other people made up the lies but they chose to read them instead of facts.
The people who are misinformed have chosen to get bad information. Accurate information is available and easy to find.
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) July 23, 2021
The Right-wing lies blaming the riot on Antifa
Why would left-wing supporters want to overturn the election? This conspiracy theory makes no sense.
Wrote about the pervasiveness of Republican belief in the Antifa-Capitol lie, the long list of prominent people who spread it, how this is part of a pattern, and why the problem is not just the Fox-and-co. lie supply but demand for these kinds of lies: https://t.co/I7sDe7HpSt
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 3, 2021
" ….a handful of people who did the wrong thing on Jan. 6.”
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) March 1, 2021
That's how pro-Trump Rs describe it to @mikedebonis – downplaying a violent insurrection in attempt to rewrite history.
300~ rioters have been charged so far. More coming. https://t.co/YiwGAhplva
The false claim that left-wing agitators were behind the Capitol riot spread rapidly after the attack.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 1, 2021
This is how Donald Trump’s supporters seized on the lie on social media, cable networks and in the halls of Congress to rewrite history in real time.https://t.co/GvMmjY3nrf
Nearly a dozen Trump supporters charged in connection with the US Capitol insurrection have said Antifa and other left-wing groups weren't involved in the attack, debunking a false-flag conspiracy theory that is gaining popularity in the pro-Trump orbit https://t.co/ZmM6MZeWDf
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 27, 2021
"58 percent of Republicans believe the attack was 'mostly an antifa-inspired attack that only involved a few Trump supporters,' more than double the number who describe it as 'a rally of Trump supporters, some of whom attacked the Capitol.'” https://t.co/lPMp7KPHos
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) February 26, 2021
No evidence for the widespread right-wing lie that Antifa members disguised themselves as Trump supporters for the riot…but the feds have just charged a Trump supporter who allegedly said he was disguising himself as an Antifa member. From @murphy: https://t.co/uP4ilAIHtt
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 2, 2021
Analysis: How the effort to deny the reality of the Jan. 6 attack is evolving https://t.co/pbeZp6WmYz
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 23, 2021
One man charged in the Capitol insurrection put it simply on Facebook: "Don't you dare try to tell me that people are blaming this on antifa and BLM. We proudly take responsibility for storming the Castle."https://t.co/RgMJEhWUii
— NPR (@NPR) March 3, 2021
The Trump cult secessionist movement
These people just get worse and worse. The Trump cult is home to all kinds of terrible conspiracies.
NEW: The events in Texas this month should highlight just how idiotic state-level secession is—but pro-Trump secessionist rhetoric is only going to grow and grow. https://t.co/qma5suHXlZ
— Casey Michel 🇰🇿 (@cjcmichel) February 28, 2021
Pro-Trump Texans are serious about secession and want to seize property from Democrats as they force them to leave: columnist https://t.co/5nEkgQGaID
— Raw Story (@RawStory) February 28, 2021
“We still have people in this country talking about civil war. I’m talking about high-ranking officials in state governments and elsewhere, talking about civil war, talking about secession, talking about loading up with ammunition.” https://t.co/omNuJeeQ9S
— Liz Goodwin (@lizcgoodwin) February 26, 2021
Friendly reminder to the secession-curious: every state not colored in orange takes more money from the federal government than it gives. pic.twitter.com/X2aHIJ3azI
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 19, 2021
Sad! 