Analysis: The conspiracy-theory monster that Trump helped create could be coming for him | CNN Politics

Perhaps no modern politician has done more to mainstream conspiracy theories than President Donald Trump. After effectively launching his career in Republican politics with false “birther” claims about then-President Barack Obama, Trump has spent a decade lobbing all manner of wild theories about the “stolen” 2020 election, Haitian migrants eating people’s pets and the like. He’s also cultivated allies who helped him push those theories, often convincing many of his supporters. But the monster Trump helped create could now be coming for him. While relatively few high-profile Trump allies have turned on him over the Iran war and other issues, those who have flipped tend to disproportionately come from the more conspiratorial ranks of Trump’s following. We’re talking about people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson and various other influencers. Recently, they’ve been increasingly feeding anti-Trump conspiracy theories to their audiences. One that’s recently gained steam is that there is something suspicious about the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania — implying it could have been staged. Other theories posit the president