{"id":82078,"date":"2026-04-22T14:36:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/the-conspiracy-theory-monster-that-trump-fed-could-be-coming-for-him\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:36:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:36:39","slug":"the-conspiracy-theory-monster-that-trump-fed-could-be-coming-for-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/the-conspiracy-theory-monster-that-trump-fed-could-be-coming-for-him\/","title":{"rendered":"The conspiracy-theory monster that Trump fed could be coming for him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Perhaps no modern politician has done more to mainstream conspiracy theories than President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After effectively launching his career in Republican politics with false \u201cbirther\u201d claims about then-President Barack Obama, Trump has spent a decade lobbing all manner of wild theories about the \u201cstolen\u201d 2020 election, Haitian migrants eating people\u2019s pets and the like. He\u2019s also cultivated allies who helped him push those theories, often convincing many of his supporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But the monster Trump helped create could now be coming for him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While relatively few high-profile Trump allies have turned on him over the Iran war and other issues, those who have flipped tend to disproportionately come from the more conspiratorial ranks of Trump\u2019s following. We\u2019re talking about people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson and various other influencers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Recently, they\u2019ve been increasingly feeding anti-Trump conspiracy theories to their audiences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">One that\u2019s recently gained steam is that there is something suspicious about the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania \u2014 implying it could have been staged. Other theories posit the president is beholden to Israel or even \u201ccompromised\u201d in some other way; that Trump\u2019s and his administration\u2019s loyalties to Republicans are suspect; and even that he could be the antichrist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">There\u2019s no real evidence of any actual foul play, of course. But troublingly for Trump, some of these theories appear to be gaining at least some traction on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Butler theories are far and away the most prevalent right now \u2013 though they\u2019re often lodged in a just-asking-questions framing (a tactic Trump has personally used before).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Joe Kent, who recently resigned as a top Trump administration counterterrorism official while citing the Iran war, claimed to Carlson that investigations of Butler have suspiciously been stifled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Greene, the former GOP congresswoman from Georgia, said in a social media post on Sunday that she wasn\u2019t calling Butler a \u201choax,\u201d before adding: \u201cBut there are a lot of questions that deserve public answers.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Marjorie Taylor Greene wears a &amp;quot;Trump Was Right About Everything&amp;quot; hat during an address by President Donald Trump to joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol on March 4, 2025. - Al Drago\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images\/File\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/8ND7ROfgsDr.ZnvZdA7Ldg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/e1287c8cfde5aefc86aa688a16fd160a\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Marjorie Taylor Greene wears a &#8220;Trump Was Right About Everything&#8221; hat during an address by President Donald Trump to joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol on March 4, 2025. &#8211; Al Drago\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images\/File<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Podcaster Joe Rogan has occasionally gestured at such questions, and fellow podcaster Tim Dillon recently went so far as to state: \u201cI think maybe it was staged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Carlson and Candace Owens, meanwhile, have connected the questions to a player in many such conspiracy theories: Israel. (Notably, both have focused extensively on Israel in their commentary and faced frequent accusations of antisemitism.) Carlson suggested Kent could have a point that the lack of a more thorough investigation of Butler demonstrates Israel\u2019s influence over the American government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The accused would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, left little in the way of a paper trail. But FBI officials under both Trump and former President Joe Biden have concluded that Crooks acted alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Other such theories also predictably involved Israel, especially the idea that Trump is compromised or beholden to the Jewish state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Carlson earlier this month subtly likened Trump to a slave in an interview with Newsmax, saying, \u201cI feel sorry for him, as I do for all slaves. He is not free in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And in a new show this week, another former Trump-supporting podcaster, Theo Von, suggested one logical explanation for the Iran war was that Trump was in the grip of Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d Von said. \u201cSo yeah, that\u2019s what our president\u2019s up to, and it\u2019s f**king baffling. And it\u2019s sick, and it feels like he\u2019s just been compromised by Israel, by this dark government over there. And I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s f**king dark. It\u2019s dark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">White nationalist Nick Fuentes has detailed an elaborate conspiracy theory in which JD Vance was effectively installed as vice president to be a tool of powerful forces in the tech industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And Fuentes\u2019 comments were reposted Friday by former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin \u2014 though Palin insists she only meant to highlight an approving shout-out for her role in the tea party movement. (Palin hasn\u2019t turned against Trump, though she has recently been critical of him on a couple fronts.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trump\u2019s decision to appear on Alex Jones\u2019 conspiracy theory-laden show in late 2015 was, in retrospect, a major statement of intent when it came to Trump\u2019s desire to ally with conspiracy theorists. But Jones is now wielding such theories against Trump after breaking with him over Iran, including accusing Trump on Monday of trying to help Democrats take over his platform InfoWars (the Onion, a satirical news site that is working to take over InfoWars, is not controlled by the Democratic Party).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And then there\u2019s perhaps the most undersold theory that\u2019s getting some traction \u2014 that Trump could be the antichrist. In Christian theology, the antichrist is a figure that appears before Jesus\u2019 second coming to deceive people and embodies a false savior.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This was a theory that Carlson hinted at recently amid his big break with Trump. And Wired magazine found that some Trump supporters with significant followings are starting to ask questions about it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Tucker Carlson attends an event at the White House in January. - Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0y30a82XHLOZiDTvwDiiVg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/cnn_articles_875\/555b49150aedc7284825ed6cd656cdc8\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Tucker Carlson attends an event at the White House in January. &#8211; Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It remains to be seen what will become of those theories on the right. It could be that some sudden Trump skeptics are just spouting off and it will all subside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But it\u2019s not difficult to see some of them gaining real purchase, especially given the theories involve a familiar culprit (Israel) and a familiar set of circumstances that often breeds such theories (an attempted assassination).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The people targeting Trump have proven quite successful at spreading such theories in the past, including Jones, Owens and Carlson. And the theories are also getting some traction among a class of podcasters \u2014 people like Dillon and Von \u2014 who were valuable Trump supporters in part because they spoke to people who are less engaged politically and perhaps more easily influenced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Republican Party leaders have largely stood by in recent months as anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiments have risen in their ranks, especially among younger Republicans. And they\u2019ve mostly tried to ignore metastasizing conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination, which have been pushed most forcefully by Owens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But they might wish they\u2019d pushed back more forcefully, given those sensibilities could now feed into conspiracy theories involving Trump \u2014 helped along by some recently alienated allies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a ><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps no modern politician has done more to mainstream conspiracy theories than President Donald Trump. After effectively launching his career in Republican politics with false \u201cbirther\u201d claims about then-President Barack Obama, Trump has spent a decade lobbing all manner of wild theories about the \u201cstolen\u201d 2020 election, Haitian migrants eating people\u2019s pets and the like. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextam_enable_autolinks":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/368f9058cf64de395290346a28d142e6.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}