We watched over the past year as a wave of conspiracy theories infected our national discourse. …
Trump’s use of conspiracy theory politics proved to be a particularly ingenious form of populism. By focusing his populist appeals on conspiracy rhetoric — rather than substantive policy — Trump galvanized the broad support needed to overcome the party establishment. His conspiracy rhetoric boiled down to a single unifying claim: Political elites have abandoned the interests of regular Americans in favor of foreign interests. For Trump, the political system was corrupt and the establishment could not be trusted. It followed, then, that only a disruptor could stop the corruption. CONT.
Matthew D. Atkinson, Darin DeWitt & Joseph E. Uscinski, Mischiefs of Faction