# Why does Trump give his support to the medical conspiracy crowd? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 9, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947 "2026-05-09T15:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/1 "2026-05-09T15:07:09Z")
Generally speaking, Trump does something because it benefits him personally. But I can’t see how he benefits out of supporting medical conspiracies. He’s dumb about healthcare, as indicated by his stated belief that windmills cause cancer but orange soda cures it. But he doesn’t seem to be a believer and he gets conventional medical treatment. The people who do believe conspiracy theories love him because he endorses their woo. But Trump has demonstrated he can pretty much say anything and his believers will agree with him. So he could just as easily declare that alternative medicine is a liberal plot and the magas would all agree. The real issue to me is that Trump’s endorsement of medical conspiracies is killing people in his own base and that weakens his power. So what benefit is Trump getting that outweighs, in his mind, the shrinking of his base? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/2 "2026-05-09T15:17:25Z")
Trump isn’t giving his support to the medical conspiracy crowd. He never gives anyone or anything his support, or anything else. He’s accepting support from that crowd. It’s purely “if I make these meaningless mouth-noises, they’ll support me”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/3 "2026-05-09T15:31:26Z")
MAGA, and especially its MAHA cohort are heavily into medical conspiracies relating to vaccines, cancer cures They are hiding from us, chemtrails, GMOs etc. At best, Trump does zero to refute this nonsense; at his worst he fans the flames. He knows that’s what his base wants. They’re willing to forget his push for Covid vaccines if he supports the antivax line now. Conspiracies are the shiny objects he dangles in front of MAGA to distract them from the economy, inflation, failing war and budget deficits. “Look, a UFO reveal!!” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/4 "2026-05-09T15:41:12Z")
Trump can spot marks, and when there’s no risk to himself, he’ll expend a bit of energy to exploit those marks. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/5 "2026-05-09T15:53:52Z")
Trump doesn’t care at all about American kites or the quality of American life. Much like Putin doesn’t care how many of his soldiers die in Ukraine. As long as the masses are fighting each other over what he says from day to day and not paying attention to his shenanigans the grift can continue to roll in. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/6 "2026-05-09T15:54:53Z")
It’s a piece of utterly reprehensible calculating immoral politics. That stands out even by the standards of Trump and the GOP Before COVID this kind of nutjobbery was not primarily associated with the GOP, there was an extreme fringe of the right who held these beliefs but they were more likely to be associated with the left or not really associated with party politics at all During COVID Trump and the GOP realized that there was a bunch of these nutjobs out there and their votes were there for the taking. So they co-opted them knowing full well that doing so would cost **hundreds of thousands** of American lives. They didn’t believe in this crap but they could get the votes of people who did, and it’s not like Trump believes all the other crap that has been part of the GOP’s core values historically either (which also has killed plenty of Americans) . It’s not even that many votes, but Trump has killed hundreds of thousands for them (and we’ve only started seeing the death toll). It’s the most vile crap imaginable, even by the GOP’s standards. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/7 "2026-05-09T16:01:06Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > During COVID Trump and the GOP realized that there was a bunch of these nutjobs out there and their votes were there for the taking. So they co-opted them knowing full well that doing so would cost **hundreds of thousands** of American lives. Speaking of appeals to nuttery for the sake of political power, let’s not forget cowards like G.O.P. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana (a physician), who painted a target on his back by voting for Trump’s impeachment during his first term - and ever since has been groveling before the dear Leader, including casting a deciding committee vote assuring RFK Jr.'s confirmation as HHS Secretary, knowing what a medical conspiracy loon Junior was and is. Even an increasingly demented Trump doesn’t forget challenges to his power, so he endorsed a Cassidy opponent in the upcoming primary, and it’s highly doubtful that even extreme groveling will save Cassidy’s Senate seat. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/8 "2026-05-09T16:05:06Z")
Yeah. He takes the path of least resistance in every conversation (with the caveat that for him “least resistance includes insulting anyone with a spine”). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/9 "2026-05-09T16:05:28Z")
Trump is under their control, not his. If he speaks against them, he loses votes. That being said, ironically, as **griffin1977** said, by doing so, his anti-Covid-vaccine-and-distancing stance got a lot of his voters killed. Thus losing him votes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/10 "2026-05-09T16:48:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Trump isn’t giving his support to the medical conspiracy crowd. He never gives anyone or anything his support, or anything else. He’s accepting support from that crowd. It’s purely “if I make these meaningless mouth-noises, they’ll support me”. I disagree. Trump appointed Kennedy to a cabinet position. He had no need to do so. That has advanced medical conspiracies much further than they would have been. And by encouraging his followers to forego real healthcare, Trump has reduced his base and weakened his political strength. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/11 "2026-05-09T16:50:20Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > it’s not like Trump believes all the other crap that has been part of the GOP’s core values historically either (which also has killed plenty of Americans) . But with things like letting ICE run wild, Trump is killing people who oppose him. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/12 "2026-05-09T16:51:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And by encouraging his followers to forego real healthcare, Trump has reduced his base and weakened his political strength. Unlike COVID, the current bad medical positions Trump is taking won’t kill people quickly. They’ll get sick and die as a result, but not at a time he needs them. He’ll be dead before most of them. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/13 "2026-05-09T17:03:37Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > They’ll get sick and die as a result And it’ll be Biden’s fault, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/14 "2026-05-09T17:10:32Z")
Serious healthcare professionals are too smart to pledge unlimited loyalty to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/15 "2026-05-09T17:14:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But with things like letting ICE run wild, Trump is killing people who oppose him Yeah but plenty of other GOP policies it’s not e.g. Republican voters are more likely to die from lack of healthcare, or gun violence, etc. The difference is Trump had nothing to do with the GOP adopting those policies. This was Trump’s doing, and it was calculating attempt to win some votes at the expensive of a huge pile of human life. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/16 "2026-05-09T18:53:53Z")
Trump does a lot of things just to trigger his perceived enemies. In this case the “educated elite”. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/17 "2026-05-09T19:12:10Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > lot of things just to trigger his perceived enemies. In this case the “educated elite”. Though this wasn’t that. Again pre-2020 I’d have associated this kind of bs far more with the liberal rich hippy elite than the Maga base. This was pure electoral calculus. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/18 "2026-05-09T19:12:13Z")
This is yet another thing MAGA will never grasp: that things done to trigger the opposing side can be mostly self-harm. Although one rare MAGA exception, a right-wing author, did write articles claiming liberals were deliberately promoting the Covid vaccine for the specific purpose of getting MAGA folks to NOT take the vaccine and, hence, die, as an act of reverse psychology. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/19 "2026-05-09T19:34:40Z")
It really does come down to COVID. He _hated_ the pandemic. It destroyed the economy on his watch, and people actually expected him to _do things_ to make the situation better. But the medical CTists lined up behind him, vigorously defending every stupid thing he said, so he loves them. So long as it costs him nothing, he’s happy to let them run wild. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947/20 "2026-05-10T03:48:51Z")
Donald Trump doesn’t necessarily have a _lot_ of longstanding sincere beliefs, but he does have some (like tariffs) and he’s been pushing antivax stuff for _at least_ [18 years](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2007/12/28/trump-autism-linked-to-child-vaccinations/). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-trump-give-his-support-to-the-medical-conspiracy-crowd/1029947.md?page=2)