# What's the most insane rumor you've heard about a candidate for public office, in the U.S. or elsewhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 8, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122 "2025-05-08T22:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/21 "2025-05-09T12:57:27Z")
That one I don’t believe (the golden showers part). He’s too much of a clean freak. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/22 "2025-05-09T16:08:31Z")
The Sybian room at MTG’s mansion is an exact replica of a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/23 "2025-05-09T16:38:02Z")
And I think you are correct for believing it. The source of the rumor was the Steele report. Back in 2015, the report was published on line, and I read it. About 90 percent of it was very dull recounting of numbers about real estate deals in the ex Soviet Union. The introductory section talked about a party at a hotel in Moscow that Trump was present at, and where the hosts of the party, a collection of Russian bankers with KGB ties, hired some women to put on a sex show. That was it. Trump attended a party where some Russian hookers put on a show. It was never alleged in the Steele report that Trump participated. That was all made up after the fact by comedians. I certainly don’t like Trump, but I do think the persistant rumors about a pee fetish are unfair. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/24 "2025-05-09T16:43:56Z")
I’ll certainly buy that he got “involved” with the hookers, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/25 "2025-05-09T16:45:48Z")
Maybe, maybe not. It was not alleged in the Steele report though. Steele did say that since the party was organized by ex KGB officials, if anyone did get involved with the hookers, it was almost certainly recorded. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/26 "2025-05-09T18:09:42Z")
> **[The Most Famous Speech Never Given](https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2015/11/02/most-famous-speech-never-given/75042776/)** > > Florida Frontiers: The Most Famous Speech Never Given > A cynical speech supposedly aimed at unsophisticated Florida voters was attributed to [George] Smathers in the April 17, 1950, edition of Time magazine: > > “Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, he has a brother who is a known homo sapiens, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage, habitually practiced celibacy.” Smathers won, and served three terms in the Senate ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/27 "2025-05-09T18:26:06Z")
Just for the record, I assume we’re talking about semi-credible, or at least _plausible_ rumors, rather than the ones that go into la-la-land/Conspiracy theory types. Because if the latter, well, little beats the “Politician XYZ is dead, it’s an actor/fake/AI” or “Politician/Royal ABC is a Lizard Person/Alien/etc.” Because Pizzagate is IMHO pretty close to the latter, and my vote (outside the extremes I mentioned above), but we’re talking a huge spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/28 "2025-05-09T18:46:17Z")
Candidate adjacent: Roger Stone’s parents were big fans of the comic strip _Zippy the Pinhead_, so when he was young, they had him wear a helmet which gave his skull that distinctive shape. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/29 "2025-05-09T23:59:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Last night, I was dinking around on YouTube, and found a video by an ex-porn star who had become a born-again Christian, and he said that the Harris/Walz campaign had advertised on PornHub in seven U.S. states. I don’t know if the Harris/Walz campaign advertised on porn sites - I would suspect not - but I did hear an interview on NPR about something like that. Let’s see if I can find it - aha: [https://www.npr.org/2024/11/01/nx-s1-5168877/2024-election-pac-trump-porn-sites](https://www.npr.org/2024/11/01/nx-s1-5168877/2024-election-pac-trump-porn-sites) (The article notes that PornHub, in particular, does not accept political advertising.) So this was a - very - independent PAC that was doing this, not the campaign itself (i.e. you would never have the “I approve this message” verbiage on such ads). ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/30 "2025-05-10T00:10:12Z")
And that one was a dead ringer for Ivanka. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/31 "2025-05-10T00:15:15Z")
Seems like no one has yet mentioned [this famous claim](https://sites.brown.edu/thehallhoagcollection/2013/01/28/john-birch-society/) by John Birch Society founder (and candy mogul} Robert Welch: > [@](#): > > my firm belief that Dwight Eisenhower is a dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy is based on an accumulation of detailed evidence so extensive and so palpable that it seems to me to put this conviction beyond any reasonable doubt ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/32 "2025-05-10T03:46:33Z")
There have also been surprisingly persistent rumors that Michelle Obama is not a woman, and that even if she is, that Sasha and Malia are not their biological children. And then there was this. Enough people thought the story might be real that the Onion had to explain themselves. > **[Obama's 19-Year-Old Son Makes Rare Appearance At DNC](https://theonion.com/obamas-19-year-old-son-makes-rare-appearance-at-dnc-1819573864/)** > > CHARLOTTE, NC—The first family has turned more than a few heads at this week’s Democratic National Convention, where the president, as he greets delegates and waves to crowds of supporters, is often accompanied not only by his wife and two daughters,... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/33 "2025-05-10T03:48:07Z")
I’ve seen versions of this attributed to quite a few people. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/34 "2025-05-10T04:53:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The Sybian room at MTG’s mansion is an exact replica of a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. I understood enough of this to make me _really uncomfortable._ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/35 "2025-05-10T18:35:12Z")
It’s the sort of thing that would be. It passed into political lore and even a good reporter like Alastair Cooke said in Pepper’s obituary that it was a real event. > In 1950 Pepper was up for re-election. A textile magnate and some other tycoons decided to mount a campaign to wreck him. They financed and played every dubious and dirty trick in the game but the tactic that had the most conspicuous success was one speech of his opponent, a set speech solemnly intoned before all the gaping rednecks at every rural crossroad in Florida. The contemporary rendition in _Time_ magazine, repeated in _Life_ in September (Henry Luce was evidently for Pepper), marks the date, though, and also makes clear that nobody was going around saying this, much less Smathers. Nevertheless, the paragraph followed him around for decades. No paper covering the primary printed anything like this. It may have originated in an obscure magazine named _Quote_. [Testing the Limits: George Armistead Smathers and Cold War America](https://books.google.com/books?id=Vn3YY7Gu9_MC&pg=PA66&dq=time+magazine+april+1950+george+smathers&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiSsOXbw5mNAxV4kokEHQ0eJpIQ6AF6BAgEEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false), by Brian Lewis Crispell, 1999, has good coverage on p66. Pepper, btw, recovered and spent 27 years in the House. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/36 "2025-05-11T05:17:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > And then there was this. Enough people thought the story might be real that the Onion had to explain themselves. > > [Obama's 19-Year-Old Son Makes Rare Appearance At DNC - The Onion](https://theonion.com/obamas-19-year-old-son-makes-rare-appearance-at-dnc-1819573864/) I didn’t see the part where The Onion “explained themselves”. Can you direct me to it? I probably just missed it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/37 "2025-05-11T05:42:06Z")
There are a number of stories. This one doesn’t have a paywall. > **[Floridians Fall For 'Onion' Article About Obama's 19-Year-Old Son](https://banana1015.com/floridians-fall-for-onion-article-about-obamas-19-year-old-son/)** ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/38 "2025-05-13T16:15:18Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > He’s too much of a clean freak. Sometimes the things you deny are the things you secretly enjoy. Especially weird sex stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/39 "2025-05-13T20:42:58Z")
The craziest statement I can think about referred to Al Smith in a 1920s election. I read a statement from the KKK about fifteen years ago in a history book. They wrote that if he won, “the bootleggers and prostitutes will dance together on the front steps.” ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122/40 "2025-05-13T20:56:27Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I certainly don’t like Trump, but I do think the persistant rumors about a pee fetish are unfair. Perhaps they’re incorrect, but I think unfair is a bit of a stretch, given his penchant for spreading aggressively untrue stories about other people. Put me down for Birtherism as the most insane and persistent rumor, one which Trump himself spread vociferously. It comes down to a pregnant lady in 1961 secretly taking a multi day flight from Hawaii to Kenya to give birth, then flying back to Hawaii with newborn in tow, and falsifying records that have literally no importance to anything besides her child’s ability to become President (if they even have that impact). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-insane-rumor-youve-heard-about-a-candidate-for-public-office-in-the-u-s-or-elsewhere/1018122.md?page=3)