# Why is the Right so credulous when it comes to conspiracy theories? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 17, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903 "2019-10-17T14:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/61 "2019-10-18T16:28:01Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Rachel Maddox and Russia…Don Lemon and …narf…and “jetliner swallowing black holes” I don’t know who Rachel Maddox is, maybe you meant Rachel Maddow? At any rate, can you give a link to these conspiracies? I couldn’t find anything on **rachel maddow russia conspiracy** except for the belief that the FBI is correct about Russia interfering with the 2016 election. So are you suggesting that the FBI is now engaging in conspiracy theories? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/62 "2019-10-18T16:28:51Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I’d love to see a cite, but if true that’s a pretty good rebuttal. [Here](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/bush_administration/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance)is the poll. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/63 "2019-10-18T17:10:41Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > Fine, got anything from the last 10 years? Or preferably, since Trump was elected? And then, AFAIK, I have not seen Clinton supporting those conspiracies, Shodan does really think also that I was talking in absolutes, missing the point there too. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/64 "2019-10-18T17:16:21Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > [Here](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/bush_administration/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance)is the poll. And while bad, that is nowhere at the levels the Republicans fall for manufactured conspiracies nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/65 "2019-10-18T17:34:13Z")
> [@Running\_with\_Scissors](#): > > At any rate, can you give a link to these conspiracies? [Don Lemon said a very stupid thing on TV.](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/don-lemon-black-hole-malaysia-jet) I’d argue that it’s not a conspiracy theory, in that he’s suggesting a (very dumb) theory about a natural disaster claiming the plane, not suggesting that somebody deliberately destroyed it - but that’s admittedly nitpicking, because his suggestion is still really stupid and really wrong, like most conspiracy theories. Also, so far as I know, it’s just something he brought up this one time, trying to fill air-time when there wasn’t any more to a story about a missing plane than, “plane still missing.” ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/66 "2019-10-18T17:37:40Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > I believe that theory. Both conspiracy theorists I have worked with (same job, different departments) are waaaaaay on the left. Like, Looney toons land. One was a vehement anti-vaxxer because Big Brother was replacing the vaccine with microchips to track your every movement and he was pro-everything the left believes in. I view the left/right political continuum as a circle rather than a line. The far left hippie new age crazies, at some point, become almost indistinguishable from the far right crazies. And I do know some far left crazies. My masseuse and his yoga teacher wife believe all this crap, including 9/11 plots and Obama as the Kenyan Manchurian candidate. Sometimes they try to hold meetings to spread their beliefs. I think that one time they got 4 people to show up to one of these meetings. On the other side of the spectrum, yesterday the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States of America confirmed that he had blocked an aid package for a foreign country because of a conspiracy theory. He, along with the President of the United States and the Attorney General of the United States believe this batshit theory, which involves malfeasance by the government of Ukraine. As such, they have made confirming this theory a cornerstone of American foreign policy. Now, I think one of these things is much more concerning that the other thing. And I don’t think it’s hypocritical at all to be more deeply concerned about the latter. Because my issue isn’t with some right wing crazies being conspiracy theorists, it’s with the POTUS believing this stuff and basing policy on it. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/67 "2019-10-18T17:39:58Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Well, the current leader of the Republican Party: > … > 2. Is a brother > … Birther, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/68 "2019-10-18T17:46:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Don Lemon said a very stupid thing on TV.](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/don-lemon-black-hole-malaysia-jet) His words, from the linked article: _“That’s what people are saying,” Lemon said. “I know it’s preposterous — but is it preposterous you think, Mary?”_ He doesn’t sound like a typical proponent of conspiracy theories. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/69 "2019-10-18T17:49:27Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > [Here](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/bush_administration/22_believe_bush_knew_about_9_11_attacks_in_advance)is the poll. It’s paywalled, so impossible to judge the methodology or potential bias, but from the numbers I can see it would appear Dems were 3 times as likely as Pubs to believe Bush (a president many of them already despised) knew about the attacks. If valid, that is one data point arguing that the left is also vulnerable to CTs. That capsule at the beginning, btw, immediately casts doubt on the fairness of the poll. It gives a number for Dems (35%) but casts the Pub response (7-to-1) in a way that seems less significant than the actual percentage (12%). ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/70 "2019-10-18T17:53:47Z")
The OP posted that the right were **more** credulous, not that the left were completely immune. I submit that a single (or even a few) opposing data points do not disprove his hypothesis. In fact, rather than coming up with individual examples, a better methodology would be to count the number of accepted fringe theories that have been espoused by each side, and see if there is a statistical difference. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/71 "2019-10-18T18:40:54Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > Well, the current leader of the Republican Party: > > 1. Is an antixaxxer > 2. Is a brother Trump is a black man??!? The antivaxer charge has validity, but to his :dubious: credit, Trump never followed through on flirting with using the power of his office to appoint antivax crazies to examine/determine federal vaccination policy, and he actually urged people to get vaccinated against measles. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/72 "2019-10-18T18:58:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Trump is a black man??!? > > The antivaxer charge has validity, but to his :dubious: credit, Trump never followed through on flirting with using the power of his office to appoint antivax crazies to examine/determine federal vaccination policy, and he actually urged people to get vaccinated against measles. I’d take it as _yet another_ case where Trump tries to get credit for ‘solving’ a problem that he help create in the first place. Remember, early on in his term he wanted to set up a commission on finding the bad things about vaccines, one that would be led by Robert Kennedy Jr. a notorious anti-vaxxer. Apparently Bill Gates had to talk him out of it. Trump has many tweets showing him to be anti-vaxx, although at one point he tried to say he wasn’t just that underhanded tactic of ‘too many vaccines too soon’ which has been shown to be nonsense. He only went pro-vaccine when there was an outbreak. Again, he was part of the problem to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/73 "2019-10-18T18:58:38Z")
Woooooops and there goes Hillary saying Tulsi is a Russian asset. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/74 "2019-10-18T19:14:10Z")
Needs context. But first, was she really born in Hawaii? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/75 "2019-10-18T19:20:45Z")
I’m pretty sure Hawaii isn’t even real. It’s right on the edge of the world and would fall off ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/76 "2019-10-18T19:38:34Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Needs context. But first, was she really born in Hawaii? AFAIK there were some reports about the troll factories now grooming people like Tulsi, what the ones that calls it ‘just a conspiracy theory’ forget is that someone being groomed does not need to be aware of how useful he or she is to a foreign government. Just ask the ones looking at Trump, don’t ask Trump, because he has no clue whatsoever. > **[Trump's latest conspiracy theory is that the Kurds released ISIS prisoners to...](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggests-kurds-freed-isis-prisoners-pull-us-back-syria-2019-10)** > > The Kurds bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS, and Trump is now suggesting without evidence that they released ISIS prisoners. > [@](#): > > Trump’s latest conspiracy theory is that the Kurds released ISIS prisoners to pull the US back into Syria > **[Conspiracy Theories Might Sound Crazy, But Here’s Why Experts Say We Cannot...](https://time.com/5541411/conspiracy-theories-domestic-terrorism/)** > > 'It’s too consequential for us not to deal with it' > [@](#): > > REPORTER: Do you really think the Clintons are involved in Epstein’s death? > > TRUMP: “I have no idea. I know he was on his plane 27 times…the question you have to ask is, did Bill Clinton go to the island?..I was never there…if you find that out, you’re going to know a lot.” > > “The chief conspiratorialist of the last 10 years is now the President of the United States,” says Harvard University researcher Joseph Vitriol, who studies political psychology. “Because of that, what we might be seeing is increased influence and pervasiveness of these beliefs.” > > In 2016, when a gunman barged into the Washington, D.C. pizzeria, he had falsely believed children were trapped in a sex-trafficking ring led by Hillary Clinton—a fringe idea propagated by an anonymous user known as “Q,” who favors Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/77 "2019-10-18T23:51:03Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Needs context. But first, was she really born in Hawaii? [Context.](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/politics/hillary-clinton-tulsi-gabbard/index.html) Not remotely a crazy assertion, assuming that Clinton doesn’t think Gabbard is a knowing pawn of Russia. The idea that Russia is going to try to monkeywrench the elections by creating the illusion of support for a minor candidate is entirely plausible, and Gabbard is as likely a target for this effort as any other candidate in the Dem field. Maybe a better target than most, given her response: > [@](#): > > Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton. You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. > > It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly. “My party is full of rot and corruption!” is kind of a weird flex for someone trying to argue that they’re not a mole. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/78 "2019-10-19T00:00:06Z")
Oh I agree she can easily be selected by Russia as a wrench in the works. My point to Dale Sams was perhaps not well stated, that it was not a great example of Hillary Clinton pushing BS conspiracies. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/79 "2019-10-19T01:44:45Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Context.](https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/politics/hillary-clinton-tulsi-gabbard/index.html) Not remotely a crazy assertion, assuming that Clinton doesn’t think Gabbard is a knowing pawn of Russia. The idea that Russia is going to try to monkeywrench the elections by creating the illusion of support for a minor candidate is entirely plausible, and Gabbard is as likely a target for this effort as any other candidate in the Dem field. > > Maybe a better target than most, given her response: > > “My party is full of rot and corruption!” is kind of a weird flex for someone trying to argue that they’re not a mole. Exact opposite actually. But she’s stating the obvious…also let me know how life on Maple Street is ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903/80 "2019-10-19T01:47:01Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Oh I agree she can easily be selected by Russia as a wrench in the works. My point to Dale Sams was perhaps not well stated, that it was not a great example of Hillary Clinton pushing BS conspiracies. Besides coming out and saying she won’t run third party. But everyone clap like seals for Hillarys bald faced accusations of “if you run third party then you’re a Russian pawn” That’s an awfully convient assertion for a kabillionaire power monger affiliated with one of the two major parties [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-right-so-credulous-when-it-comes-to-conspiracy-theories/841903.md?page=5)