On Rhetorical Paramnesia: January 6th Denialism and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

I analyze the view that most political conspiracy theories should be rejected on the grounds that they embody "an almost nihilistic degree of skepticism". This view has been widely criticized, but I will aim to show that the objections presented so far are not wholly convincing. I will argue that the claim that most conspiracy theorists end in making claims of larger and larger conspiracies is mistaken, as the empirical evidence concerning conspiracy theories does not support such view. Expanding one's theory in the face of criticism has been only one strategy among many, and conspiracy theorists need not accept skepticism.

This chapter explores the link between conspiracy theories, political beliefs and political engagement in order to answer the question of whether conspiracy theories can be viewed as a vehicle for the outsider to articulate their doubts about governments and ruling powers. It examines whether belief in conspiracy theories is linked with a discernible profile of political engagement and participation. Conspiracy theories can serve as a psychological tool for the political outsider to regain a sense of control and increase predictability because they offer an explanation for events that the official account attributes to coincidences, natural forces or a series or random events. There is limited research on the relationship between belief in political conspiracy theories and political participation. Statistical analysis showed no relationship between political ideology and either the Conspiracy mentality questionnaire or belief in specific conspiracy theories. Among people low on political interest, conspiracy theories may further solidify their distaste, lack of trust and alienation from the political process.

This study examined the relationship between a series of individual difference measures and belief in political and medical conspiracy theories. Participants (N = 323) rated 20 conspiracy theories (10 medical, 10 political) and completed a set of questionnaires. Belief in political conspiracies was strongly positively correlated with belief in medical conspiracies. Belief in both conspiracy types was correlated with low self-esteem, low Conscientiousness, more right-wing political views, younger age, and greater belief in the benefits of Alternative Medicine. It was also correlated with religiousness and gender. Low Emotional Stability and Agreeableness were also correlated with belief in political conspiracies, and higher education level was correlated with belief in medical conspiracies. The findings generally demonstrated support for a monological belief system. Implications and limitations are discussed.

There is no capitalist conspiracy and the rich are not all‐powerful

It is often claimed that political conspiracy theories are of limited falsifiability [1]. Government officials’ public statements that contradict a conspiracy theory can be interpreted as signs that support the theory. Almost all potentially falsifying evidence can be construed to be actually supporting evidence. Because conspiracy theories seem to be irrefutable, many people reject them from the outset.

Recent public concern about political conspiracy theories and disinformation has led some to favor restrictions on free speech or call for greater government transparency. These proposals are likely to fail, as they are based upon the faulty assumption that belief in conspiracies is a product of ignorance. It is surprising that few scholars in recent years have focused on the special connection between conspiracy theories and the populist movements that commonly spawn them. Historically, the American system has restricted political action outside certain normal bounds, eventually encouraging frustrated citizens to develop new opposition movements. Populists then adopt conspiracy theories as tools to reshape political coalitions and forge unified organizations of their own. In light of the functional purpose of conspiracy theories and the oppositional critique of populist movements, conspiratorial narratives no longer appear to be the product of ignorance.

Editorial—The truth is out there: The psychology of conspiracy theories and how to counter them

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine whether the massive spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, the country with the most advanced medical technology in the world, are symptomatic of leadership failure. The authors posit that when political leaders, such as the President of the USA, in conjunction with a group of state governors and city mayors, employed conspiracy theories and disinformation to achieve their political goals, they contributed to the massive spreads and fatalities of the virus, and they also undermined the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the health-care professionals in providing the pertinent control guidelines and true scientific-based medical information.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a review of current studies that address the handling of global infectious diseases to build a better understanding of the issue of pandemics. They then employed a theoretical framework to link the massive spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic to political leaders, such as President Trump and the group of obsequious state governors and city mayors, who propagated conspiracy theories and disinformation through social media platforms to downplay the severity of the virus. The authors compared the massive spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA under President Trump to President Obama who handled H1N1, Ebola, Zika and Dengue. More importantly, the authors compared President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to other political leaders in advanced countries where there were no concerted efforts to spread conspiracy theories and disinformation about the health risks of COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsThe authors' theoretical analysis alluded to the fact that political leaders, such as President Trump, who are engulfed in self-deceptions, self-projections and self-aggrandizements would engage in self-promotion and avoid accountability for their missteps in handling global pandemic shocks. In contrast, political leaders in other advanced countries did not downplay the severity thus their ability to curtail the spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThe theoretical viewpoints presented in this paper along with the derivations of the spreads–fatalities curtailment coefficients and the spread–fatality upsurge coefficients under Presidents Obama and Trump, respectively, may not be replicable. Given this plausible limitation, future research may need to provide a deep analysis of the amplifications of conspiracy theories and disinformation because they are now deeply rooted in the political economy of the USA. Furthermore, since scientists and medical professionals may not be able to forecast future epidemics or pandemics with pin-point accuracy nor predict how political leaders would disseminate health risks information associated with different pathogens, it is imperative that future research addresses the positive or adverse effects of conspiracy theories and disinformation that are now easily propagated simultaneously through different social media platforms, which are currently protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The multiplier effects of conspiracy theories and disinformation will continue to amplify the division about the authenticity of COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence or reemergence of other pathogens in the foreseeable future.Originality/valueThe authors derived the unique spreads-fatalities curtailment coefficients to demonstrate how President Obama used effective collaboration and coordination at all levels of government in conjunction with medical experts to curtail the spreads and fatalities associated with H1N1, Ebola, Zika and Dengue. They further derived the spreads-fatalities upsurge coefficients to highlight how President Trump contributed to the spreads and fatalities of COVID-19 pandemic through his inability to collaborate and coordinate with state governors, city mayors and different health-care agencies at the national and international levels.

Introduction. The relevance of the paper is determined by systematic features of the 45th US President elections which led to the unexpected results for researchers, politicians and a large number of citizens and has led to a certain division of American society. Aims. The paper serves to identify and consider the key features of the 45th US President elections.Methods. The methods of comparative, systemic, structural-functional, institutional, and psychological approaches are used to review the features of the presidential campaign and the policies of the candidates for the post of the US President. Behavioral, communication and postmodernist approaches, as well as the A. J. Lichtman methodology from “The 13 Keys To The White House”, participant observation, special Big Data methods, special allocation and study of the “vibrating” state as the key factor of the final stage of the presidential electorate campaign are applied to analyze the election strategies of candidates. Results. The election campaigns of the candidates for the US President from the Republican and Democratic Party were analyzed; a comparative analysis of their electoral programs is presented; the results of voting were studied.Conclusion. The paper reveals Tramps election potential: charisma, national industry-based development, support from the Republican Party, army circles, a highly professional team with a specialist in the sphere of “electronic democracy”. The paper shows different aspects of Clinton’s electoral strategy with its strong sides: the widest known, mighty supported by the Democratic Party, by B. Obama, the 44th US President, by world financial circles and neoliberal elites. Problems with health, scandals, insufficient work with important groups of voters can be referred to as the weak points.Two candidates represent two different futures for the United States: focus on the national industries, national state and realistic foreign policy, one the one hand, while one the other hand, focus on the power of the unlimited financial elites and supranational state, toughening of anti-Russian policy. The struggle between former candidates continues even after the election of the 45th President of the United States, often in aggressive forms and actions.The author offers new comprehensive approaches to the analysis and the forecast of the future presidential campaigns in the USA, which suggests 1) the effective use of A. J. Lichtman methodology from “The 13 Keys To The White House”; 2) learning factors of the “vibrating state” (14 key); 3) the wide used Big Data, networks and postmodernist technologies; 4) special attention to the brand and the leadership qualities of the candidates.

Humans seem drawn to dark conspiracy theories, often in favor of the simple truth In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation and conspiracy theorizing have surged President Trump, for example, praised the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a "game changer" despite scant empirical evidence of its efficacy and safety for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Others in the administration have promoted the unsubstantiated theory that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a Chinese lab, despite scientific consensus that the virus likely originated in an animal source before zoonotic transfer and that no evidence indicates that the virus emerged through deliberate lab manipulation of a related virus Here, Friedman discusses why humans are vulnerable to conspiracy theories

This study aims to illuminate the importance of social, political, and economic capital in American presidential campaigns and elections. Regarding Donald Trump's unexpected win by national polls and the continued controversy arising out of his particular brand of populism, the study compares Trump's and Clinton's values shared with voters across multidimensional social, political, and economic capital during the 2016 presidential campaigns. Utilizing the capital indexes constructed by the researcher's pilot surveys and the hybrid measure of capital warmth formulated in the proposed model, this study explores voters' open‐ended answers about the Republican Party candidate, Donald Trump, and the Democratic Party candidate, Hillary Clinton, that were collected by the American National Election Studies prior to the 2016 presidential election. The study found that Clinton's political and economic capital resources, especially her political reputation and functional ability, more significantly contributed to her voters' support, voting, and confidence. However, in contrast to Clinton's strength in political capital, Trump cultivated relatively more and stronger social capital that contributed to his voters' support, choice, and voting strength. Trump's social capital overpowered Clinton's political capital and appeared to be a feasible answer for “Trumpism” in the 2016 American presidential election.

This chapter examines the emergence of Islamophobia after September 11, 2001, and its continued rise in the early twenty-first century with conspiracy theories about Sharia, Christian fears about the future of America as a “Christian nation,” and the presidential campaign and election of Donald Trump. The primary sources in this chapter focus on the birther controversy surrounding President Barack Obama, the racialization of Islam and attacks on Sikhs, media and popular culture stereotypes of Islam as un-American, violent, and oppressive toward women, and the expansion of Islamophobia during the Trump presidency. Various sources, ranging from tweets and radio transcripts to T-shirts and internet art to news interviews and executive orders, demonstrate the growth and pervasiveness of Islamophobia in the twenty-first century United States.

Henrik Ibsen and Conspiracy Thinking: The Case of <i>Peer Gynt</i>

We used Alexandria Digital, a world leading disinformation detection technology, to analyse almost a million posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Reddit comments during the first Republican primary debate and counterprogrammed Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump interview on the 23rd of August. What we did: • Collected 949,259 posts from the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. These posts were collected if they contained one of 11 relevant hashtags or keywords and were posted between 8:45pm and 11:15pm EST on 23rd August 2023. • Collected 20,549 comments from two separate Reddit threads. Both were discussion threads dedicated to the first Republican primary Debate and the Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump interview from r/Conservative and r/politics. • This methodology allowed us to capture narratives and conduct analysis of coordinated behaviour that occurred immediately before, during, and after the Republican primary debate and the airing of the Tucker Carlson interview of Donald Trump. What we found: • A coordinated network of over 1200 accounts promoting the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump won the 2020 United States presidential election that received over 3 million impressions on the platform X; • A sprawling bot network consisting of 1,305 unique accounts with a variety of clusters; • Some of the largest clusters were coordinated troll networks in support of Donald Trump; a coordinated network of misleading news outlets, and a clickbait Pro-Trump bot network. • No coordinated activity was found on Reddit during the Republican Primary Debate or in discussion of the Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump interview. What does this mean? • X is flooded with platform manipulation of various kinds, is not doing enough to moderate content, and has no clear strategy for dealing with political disinformation. • A haven for disinformation. While pre-Musk Twitter previously managed to moderate harmful conspiracy theories such as QAnon, X is now a safe space for conspiracy theorists and political disinformation. • That no evidence of coordinated influence activity was found on Reddit suggests the extensive rules and moderation either prevented or removed coordinated activity from the platform. • Worrying trends. Given the prevalence of mis- and disinformation during the debate and interview, the leadup to the US 2024 Presidential Election is likely to witness a surge of information disorder on the platform. • Trump is back. The reinstatement of Donald Trump’s X account has emboldened conspiracy theorists and the far right, who are interpreting this as a sign that the reason why Trump was suspended (incitement to violence) validates election fraud disinformation and activism. • Anything goes. The lack of a freely available Twitter Application Programming Interface (API) means that researchers, journalists, and regulators cannot monitor disinformation on X and hold the platform to account.

One way of looking at conspiracy is to consider it a deliberately enhanced political weapon cultivated by those who push 'fake news' in a post-truth media environment. In some cases of 'true conspiracies' and theories, it is clear that the pejorative view of conspiracy must be abandoned. They comment: The psychological literature on predictors of conspiracy beliefs can be divided in approaches either with a pathological or socio-political focus. As Raikka points out, It is often claimed that political conspiracy theories are of limited falsifiability. At the same time, he adds, 'it would be a mistake to conclude from the defence of conspiracy theorising offered here that belief in conspiracy theories is on an epistemic par with belief in other theories'. In the age of Trump, it may be permissible to talk of 'government by conspiracy'.