My blog #260, posted on May 5, 2021, was about conspiracy theories. It was a two-page jaunt through that year’s general conspiracy theories. Now, three years later, America has moved from absurd conspiracy theories to deeply worrisome political conspiracy theories. Back then we were awash in Funk and Wagnall-style nutcases passing along theories that might have been a supposed conspiracy somewhere in la la land, or not. It didn’t matter because who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, especially if he’s only a conspiracy, not real. Now, in mid-year 2024, we are awash in political conspiracies that are not theoretical. Today’s political conspiracy theories are real, posed on purpose, and used effectively to scare people into doing something they would not otherwise do.
Mobilizing Political Hopes
Political conspiracy theories are used as tools to mobilize and signal political hopes, dreams, attacks, and threats. They spread false information to uncurious people. “Political conspiracist groups uphold hard-to-falsify narratives about political opponents secretly deceiving the public. Such narratives and the cognitive systems that regulate them may have co-evolved to serve social functions. Namely, to facilitate ingroup recruitment and coordination, and signal devotion to a political side. Those social functions may be best fulfilled if group members endorse political conspiratorial narratives sincerely.”[1]
We know they are real because they have a Wikipedia page. “Conspiracy theories in United States politics are beliefs that a major political situation is the result of secretive collusion by powerful people striving to harm a rival group or undermine society in general. Such theories draw from actual conspiracies, in which individuals work together covertly in order to unravel a larger system. Often, the struggle between a real conspiracy theory and a misconception of one leads to conflict, polarization in elections, distrust in government, and racial and political divisions.”
But knowing something is real is not enough. Writers, especially journalists, columnists, reporters, and podcasters must also make sure what they write is true. The Society of Professional Journalists has a code of ethics. Its members follow a strict code of ethics. (1) Seek truth and report it. (2) Minimize harm. (3) Act independently. (4) Be accountable and transparent.[2]
Ethical Imperatives In Writing
Kent State University is widely known for creating and promoting ethical writing. Its “writer’s toolbox” says: (1) Ethical writing is writing that shows (via documentation) where the source material has been incorporated into one’s own writing. (2) Ethical writing is also writing that acknowledges a range of perspectives on an issue. (3) Ethical writing is writing with a level of inclusion, respect, and acknowledgement of diversity. (4) The importance of ethical writing is based not only upon the avoidance of plagiarism, but also avoiding the weaknesses of bias and exclusive language (sexist, racist, homophobic, etc.) This strengthens the credibility and persuasiveness of the writer’s argument.[3]
Yougov.com published a guideline titled Trust In Media 2024.
“The American news landscape is fractured and polarized, with no outlet singularly gaining the public’s attention or trust. Party identification, and to some extent age, divide American media consumption. Most adults say that at least half their news consumption is politics-related, and most major news sources are perceived by Americans as either left- or right-leaning. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to trust the news in general, as well as to trust most specific outlets. Republicans — and Americans in general — are more likely to classify news sources as liberal than as conservative, though there are exceptions. Democrats and Republicans find some common ground when it comes to sources for financial news, but hold vastly different opinions on other news sources, including the two used most often: CNN and Fox News.[4]
A Long List of Political Conspiracy Theories
Political conspiracies are listed and identified on a Wikipedia page. It is a dynamic list and admittedly incomplete. Starting in 1933, here is their list:
1933 – Business Plot, a plan by American business leaders to overthrow U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and to install a military leader named General Smedley Butler as fascist dictator of the country.
1941 – Operation Spark, a planned attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler.
1944 – July 20 Plot – An attempt to assassinate Hitler with a suitcase bomb at a conference at the Wolf’s Lair in Rastenburg, East Prussia, and then use Operation Valkyrie to grab power.
1945 – The Soviet Union’s infiltration of the Manhattan Project through atomic spies such as George Koval and Klaus Fuchs. Soviet intelligence was eventually confirmed by a declassified U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report and the Venona project and assisted the Soviet atomic bomb project.[
1951 – Rawalpindi conspiracy – failed coup against Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1953 – Iranian coup d’état – The Imperial Iranian Armed Forces restores the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and overthrows Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh with the aid of CIA and MI6.
1959 – Bangkok Plot – a plan to overthrow Premier of Cambodia Prince Norodom Sihanouk, formulated by Cambodian politicians with international support.
1971 – Ugandan coup d’état – Ugandan Army units loyal to General Idi Amin deposed the government of President Milton Obote while he was abroad attending the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
1972 – Watergate scandal – The burglary of the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate complex by CREEP and subsequent cover-up scandals that forced President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.
1973 – Chilean coup d’état – a group of military officers led by General Augusto Pinochet and backed by the CIA seized power from democratically-elected leftist President Salvador Allende, ending civilian rule and establishing a U.S.-backed dictatorship
1981 – 23F – An attempted coup d’état or putsch in Spain by the military where politicians in the Congress of Deputies were held hostage for 18 hours. King Juan Carlos, I denounced the coup in a televised address. This caused the coup to eventually collapse.
1984 – Brighton hotel bombing – attempted assassination of Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet by the Provisional IRA at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, resulting in the death of Deputy Chief Whip Anthony Berry.
1984 – Rajneeshee bioterror attack
1987 – Iran-Contra Affair – a years-long secret project by the Reagan Administration to topple the government of Nicaragua by illegally selling weapons to the government of Iran to fund the terrorist group the Contras in violation of U.S. law (the Boland Amendment).
1990 – Nayirah testimony, a false testimony to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus organized by public relations firm Hill & Knowlton for the Kuwaiti government
2001 – September 11 attacks – Attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a planned fourth target in Washington D.C. using hijacked airplanes by al-Qaeda.
2003 – Plame affair – publication of Valerie Plame’s employment as a covert CIA officer by Robert Novak, who learned it from Richard Armitage, after her husband Joseph C. Wilson published a New York Times op-ed expressing doubt that Saddam Hussein purchased uranium from Niger. This led to the conviction of Scooter Libby for obstruction of justice and perjury.
2015 – November 2015 Paris attacks – attacks on targets in Paris, including an Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan theatre and the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, conducted by coordinated teams of Islamic terrorists affiliated with ISIS.
2021- After losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential Election, Donald Trump, along with many of his staffers, appointed officials, and Republican elected officials, conspired to overturn the election by falsely claiming widespread voter fraud, culminating in the January 6th, 2021, attack at the United States Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, in order to illegally keep Trump in power.[5]
Like all conspiracy theories, these were eventually debunked and ignored. But they caused great political, emotional, legal, and for some, significant financial harm. To the amusement of millions, there are thousands of people who buy into conspiracies. The American Psychological Association issued a 2023 report titled, Why some people are willing to believe conspiracy theories. “People can be prone to believe in conspiracy theories due to a combination of personality traits and motivations, including relying strongly on their intuition, feeling a sense of antagonism and superiority toward others, and perceived threats in their environment. . . Conspiracy theorists are not all likely to be simple-minded, mentally unwell folks—a portrait which is routinely painted in popular culture. . . Instead, many turn to conspiracy theories to fulfill deprived motivational needs and make sense of distress and impairment.”[6]
Political conspiracy theories might be taken as true because some people need to understand and feel safe in their environment. So, they accept a conspiracy that lets them feel like the community they identify with is superior to others. They might be motivated by social relationships. For example, participants who perceived social threats were more likely to believe in events-based conspiracy theories, such as the theory that the U.S. government planned the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, rather than an abstract theory that governments plan to harm their citizens to retain power.[7]
It is also the case that people with certain personality traits, such as a sense of antagonism toward others and high levels of paranoia are more prone to believe conspiracy theories. People who strongly believe in conspiracy theories are likely to be insecure, paranoid, emotionally volatile, impulsive, suspicious, withdrawn, manipulative, egocentric, and eccentric.[8]
The 2024 Pet-Eating Political Conspiracy Theory
Of recent interest is the pet-eating conspiracy theory. It is entirely political and just as entirely false. “Reportedly, it started with a Facebook post quoting an unnamed person who claimed to witness a Haitian family hanging a dead cat on a tree branch and skinning it like a hunter would dress a dead deer. That was quickly picked up by a conservative account on Elon Musk’s X, amplified by Musk himself, along with the likes of Charlie Kirk, and picked up by congressional Republicans, vice presidential candidate JD Vance, and then Trump himself at the debate.”
“There was a cat-eating incident several weeks ago, but it occurred in Canton, Ohio, where a woman with mental issues killed a cat and was suspected of eating it. She wasn’t Haitian, and she was born in the U.S. Meanwhile, a photo of a Black man carrying a dead goose was also taken not in Springfield, but in Columbus, and no one has been able to pinpoint who the man is or where he’s from. JD Vance, who has been a key figure in promoting the pet-eating story, tipped his hand about this motives when he posted on X that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.” But he encouraged supporters to continue repeating them, writing in a second post, “Keep the cat memes flowing.”[9]
The Conspiracy Mindset in Context—Paranoid Style
In the mid-1960s, historian Richard Hofstadter coined the phrase “paranoid style” to describe a mindset shaped by “heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy” that has characterized American politics and public life since the country’s inception. Hofstadter described the international scope of this mentality, where groups and individuals facing social ills develop convoluted explanations and assign external blame for the problems they face, often linking these two powerful entities and interests beyond their control. Hofstadter showed that, historically, the conspiracy mindset of the paranoid style surfaces along the full spectrum of political ideology, with each underlying movement focused on identifying bogeymen, punishing scapegoats, and maintaining the vanguard against nefarious threats to their varied ways of life.”[10]
Political Conspiracy Theories As Alarm Systems
Oxford Academic published a book suggesting that “conspiracy theories are essentially alarm systems and coping mechanisms to help deal with foreign threat and domestic power centers. Thus, they tend to resonate when groups are suffering from loss, weakness, or disunity. But nothing fails like success, and ascending groups trigger dynamics that check and eventually reverse the advance of conspiracy theories. In short, because defeat and exclusion are their biggest inducements, conspiracy theories are for “losers,” though sooner or later everyone must play the loser. Successful conspiracy theories conform to a strategic logic based on threat perception.”[11]
If they are alarm systems, the question is who profits from advancing and spreading them. “Conspiracy theories make the perfect clickbait. They can go wild on social media–making big profits for social media companies and media creators. A lot of that money comes from ad revenue. And media creators can use their views and popularity to sell other merch and products too–profiting even more off the conspiracy theories they are pushing. And when it comes to politics, politicians can push conspiracy theories to stoke fear and gain popularity. This has been happening for a long time in the U.S. In the past, it’s usually been a leader of a majority group claiming that some minority group is plotting against them. More recently, a lot of the conspiracy theories pushed by politicians are about the U.S. government and opposing political parties.”[12]
The PBS News Hour reported on June 20, 2024 “Right-wing disinformation is fueling conspiracy theories about the 2024 election.” They said, “It’s been more than three years since baseless claims about the 2020 election inspired an attack on the Capitol, but the lies haven’t stopped. With less than five months until November, Donald Trump is at it again with help from right-wing media.”[13]
NPR has a series called “Untangling Disinformation.” It filed a report on July 23, 2024, on “A coup, fake signatures and deepfakes are the latest conspiracy theories about 2024. President Biden’s decision to bow out of the 2024 election followed weeks of pressure from Democrats concerned about his age and ability to win and serve another four years. But conspiracy theorists, right-wing influencers, and even some Republican politicians immediately cast Biden’s resignation from the campaign as evidence of something more sinister. The flurry of unverified rumors, speculation, and conspiracy theories comes as people are reeling from an onslaught of high-stakes political upheaval, from the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13 to Biden’s withdrawal from the race eight days later.”[14]
Fox News is often accused of spreading conspiracy theories arising out of elections and politics. “A year after Fox agreed to a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in order to avoid a drawn-out and embarrassing trial over the network knowingly spreading lies about the 2020 election, Fox News is once again priming its audience to question the results of an election. In the first few months of 2024, the network’s hosts and guests have spread conspiracy theories that undocumented immigrants will vote in the 2024 election, claimed that prosecutions against former President Donald Trump are “election interference,” cast doubt on the security of early and mail-in voting, and outright claimed that Democrats will “cheat.” Additionally, the network has continued to spread the same tired lies that the 2020 election was rigged.”[15]
2024 Political Conspiracy Theorists
Every presidential election year seems to draw its share of that year’s conspiracy promoters. NPR published a report on July 23, 2024, identifying the current state of conspiracy theories plaguing the presidential election; A coup, fake signatures, and deepfakes are the latest conspiracy theories about 2024.
“President Biden’s decision to bow out of the 2024 election followed weeks of pressure from Democrats concerned about his age and ability to win and serve another four years. But conspiracy theorists, right-wing influencers, and even some Republican politicians immediately cast Biden’s resignation from the campaign as evidence of something more sinister.
The flurry of unverified rumors, speculation, and conspiracy theories comes as people are reeling from an onslaught of high-stakes political upheaval, from the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13 to Biden’s withdrawal from the race eight days later. On the most extreme end, Charlie Kirk of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and far-right activist Laura Loomer suggested, without evidence, that Biden may be dying or already dead. Others, including billionaire hedge fund boss Bill Ackman, raised doubts over the president’s letter announcing his decision, baselessly suggesting his signature wasn’t really his.”[16]
Former President Trump and Laura Loomer are making headlines together. MSNBC headlines its story: Why Trump’s connection to Laura Loomer is a real campaign issue. “Donald Trump probably should’ve known he’d face some questions about his associations with Laura Loomer. . . she is a right-wing activist, a radical conspiracy theorist, and a failed Republican congressional candidate who has described herself as “pro-white nationalism.” More recently [she] “has used her platform to lob overtly racist and sexist attacks at Kamala Harris. She attended the presidential debate last week, even appearing backstage with Trump ahead of the event, and she traveled on the Republican nominee’s plane. A day later, the former president attended a Sept. 11 remembrance and brought Loomer along — despite the fact [she] has pushed false conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks having been ‘an inside job.’”[17]
The Hill reported on September 17, 2024, “America’s story is bigger than Trump’s hateful conspiracy theories. The antidote? If Trump and his Republican supporters keep flooding the zone with lies, those of us who still live in a reality-based world need to flood the zone with the truth. We must tell and keep repeating the truth and avoid repeating lies, even to correct or mock them. We must also tell fuller, more nuanced stories that broaden the cultural narrative of America. The truth needs more champions.”[18]
Journalists and reporters posting election articles are expected to present accurate information based on facts and research. But they are not always required to write “only the truth” in every detail. They have and assert creative license can be used to enhance storytelling while still maintaining the core factual integrity of the narrative.[19]
Essential Truth
Essential truth has a substantive existence, or an ontological presence, and is not dependent on a situation. It is a pure form of presence that can be experienced in a way that gives meaning, richness, and depth to the facts of a situation. Political conspiracy theorists never speak, write, or attempt to tell the truth, essentially or in any other way. They lie on purpose and despite the harm they cause or the anxiety they create. But politics is everyday life in America. It rarely tries to be truthful. Its goal is to win, one way or the other. In everyday life, the term “politics” refers to how countries are governed, and to how governments make rules and laws to manage citizens. Management is intensely focused on dealing with or controlling things or people. The vast majority of people who vote are essentially truthful, but not always steadfast. Some fall for conspiracy theories.
“The Ringling Bothers’ Barnum & Baily Circus ended its 146-year run on May 21, 2017. It was a conspiracy of fun and amusement. They thrilled their audiences by fooling them. Alongside the big top were smaller tents that contained wonders and oddities and thrills: fat men and bearded ladies, dwarves and giants, conjoined twins and acrobats with missing limbs. There were games of chance, usually rigged, and exotic animals in painted cages, and musicians with gold piping on their jackets.”[20]
The end of the Barnum and Bailey circus took away the fun of conspiracies. Our politics are not fun. They are conspiratorial. The truth never bothered the circus. It doesn’t bother some politicians now.
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22001610
[2] https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
[3] https://www.kent.edu/stark/ethical-writing-reliable-sources#:~:text=Try%20to%20avoid%20making%20assumptions,when%20writing%2C%20and%20avoid%20stereotypes.
[4] https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/49552-trust-in-media-2024-which-news-outlets-americans-trust
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_conspiracies
[6] https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/06/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories
[7] Ibid.
[8] The Conspiratorial Mind: A Meta-Analytic Review of Motivational ad Personological Correlates. Shauna Bowes, MA, and Arber Tasimi, PhD, Emory University, and Thomas Costello, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Psychological Bulletin, Published June 26, 2033.
[9] https://captimes.com/opinion/dave-zweifel/opinion-how-a-pet-eating-conspiracy-theory-spread/article_d9c771f6-71de-11ef-9ac0-93f9e2668502.html
[10] https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/libri-2020-0158/html?lang=en
[11] https://academic.oup.com/book/2023/chapter-abstract/141897219?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[12] https://www.kqed.org/education/535656/the-secret-economy-of-conspiracy-theories
[13] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-right-wing-disinformation-is-fueling-conspiracy-theories-about-the-2024-election
[14] https://www.npr.org/2024/07/23/nx-s1-5048718/biden-harris-conspiracy-theories
[15] https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-priming-another-presidential-election-election-lies-and-conspiracy-theories
[16] https://www.npr.org/2024/07/23/nx-s1-5048718/biden-harris-conspiracy-theories
[17] Ibid.
[18] https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4881845-trump-vance-lies-springfield/
[19] https://ethicsofwriting.com/2023/03/the-ethics-of-writing-longform-nonfiction-storytelling/#:~:text=The%20core%20ethical%20premise%20to,is%20original%2C%20unless%20stated%20otherwise.
[20] https://time.com/the-last-act-of-the-greatest-show-on-earth/#:~:text=and%20Barnum%20%26%20Bailey%2C%20will%20end,stop%20using%20elephants%20as%20performers.
I am an author and a part-time lawyer with a focus on ethics and professional discipline. I teach creative writing and ethics to law students at Arizona State University. Read my bio.
If you have an important story you want told, you can commission me to write it for you. Learn how.
I am an author and a part-time lawyer with a focus on ethics and professional discipline. I teach creative writing and ethics to law students at Arizona State University. 
My latest novel is Hide & Be. 
If you have an important story you want told, you can commission me to write it for you. 