Yes, it's worse now: Why Trump-era conspiracy theories are fundamentally different

U.S. President Donald Trump at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

Conspiracy theories have been a part of right-wing politics for many years, but in the past, some prominent conservatives vehemently spoke out against them. National Review founder William F. Buckley, during the 1960s and 1970s, famously condemned the John Birch Society — arguing that their conspiracy theories were bad for the conservative movement.

But during the Donald Trump era, conspiracy theories regularly appear in many right-wing media outlets — including the repeatedly debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

In an article published by on April 27, The New Republic's Michael Tomasky examines the prominent role that conspiracy theories now play in U.S. politics.

"There have been conspiracy theories about presidential assassinations, certainly the successful ones, since forever," Tomasky explains. "John Wilkes Booth, as we know, was part of a conspiracy, a small circle of men and women; but there were some who alleged a wider Confederate plot. It always has been and always will be the case that for some people, normal, factual explanations for large and cataclysmic events will never suffice…. It's always been true. But why does it seem so much worse today? Is it, in fact, worse? Yes, it is."

Tomasky notes that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 has long been the subject of conspiracy theories, and he points out that conspiracy theories come from both the left and the right — for example, the claim that 9/11 was an inside job.

"Both sides have played this game," Tomasky observes. "In some corners of the left, there were, for example, a few conspiracy theories around (President) George W. Bush and September 11 — it was an inside job, the Mossad did it, he knew about it. So, I don't believe and would never say that the left broadly construed is without fault here…. Then there were the conspiracy theories about Barack Obama. The birther theories are only the most obvious in this category…. Remember when (Trump) was going to produce proof that Obama was born in Kenya? He never got around to that, somehow."

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