Page 3 - Conspiracy Thinking News Today

And his classmates participated in seven interviews following the shooting. soon after, they found themselves on a collision course with alex jones, who started using his info wars webcast to spread outrageous lies about mass shootings. >> my god is with the timing and everything that happened, this is staged. >> reporter: the conspiracy theory was popularized after sandy hook shooting. it was basically a claim that mass shootings are not real, theyre staged by the government with the use of cri...

Conspiracy theory, a global trafficking ring, thousands of pedophiles and one man who will vanquish this evil, now former president donald trump. it sounds ridiculous, but some studying qanon say there are reasons why so many people are drawn to it. we all have a desire to fight for what is right and to feel like we are a part of something. something big and heroic. >> our leaders are using the blood of children for everything. >> it taps into peoples desire for connection, for people feeling is...

Was exposed as a lie. >> peace will be necessary for final success. we will do this because our own security is at stake. >> let me just say this, i have never on -- obstructed justice. >> we did not, repeat, did not trade weapons or anything else for hostages. >> the erosion of trust took its toll. by the end of the 20th century, studies showed that over 50% of americans believed in at least one conspiracy theory. >> the first time i noticed it, conspiracy culture was really popular in america ...

It without lying. the reason thats not happening, in my view, is the incentives arent there, even though i believe it is within their capability. >> you mean that facebook wouldnt make money? >> it wouldnt make as much money. >> in your congressional testimony, you expressed fear that the consequence of all of this could be civil war. why do you believe that? >> i was thinking about civil war because i think its the natural extrapolation from an all-knowing algorithm that has the financial incen...

Play off our fears. >> its psychological warfare with us as children. >> to meet someone who dove head first into a conspiracy theory. >> i couldnt stop thinking about it and it broke me. >> and someone who is still very much in it. >> you cant stop whats coming. >> what do you think is coming? >> justice. >> we like to think were immune from misinformation, but the truth is far more complicated and these days harder than ever to discern. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

Its easy to think of conspiracy theories as something new. a byproduct of the digital age, the journalist anna merlin points out, this has happened over and over again in america? conspiracy theories tend to come to prominence more during times of social upheaval, social change, confusion of major world events, all of those things can lead to an environment where peoples imaginations can run wild. >> reporter: in the mid 20th century, most conspiracy theorys spread by word of mouth. while an esc...

Medieval conspiracy theory. it is an antisemitic idea that holds that jews specifically -- meeting in secret late at night to slaughter christian children and use their blood in rituals. it is spread beyond that. you can see elements of it in qanon, which claims that evildoers are meeting in secret to abuse children. >> reporter: the ancient lie has been weaponized again and again throughout global history but still didnt deter melissa who, herself, was raised jewish and descended from holocaust...

Americans who believe aliens have visited Earth are more likely than disbelievers to say that Joe Biden is not the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Or visit my24info.com. ten days since president trumps tweet claiming that president obama ordered wiretapping at trump tower. and our next guest says essentially the president is getting away with conspiracy theories with no republicans stopping him. joining me now, michael gerson, an opinion writer for the "washington post." great to see you. >> let me quote from your op ed, you say there is a cocorruption the republican party as it tolerates, excuses and absorbs trumps thinking and that rep...

The charges against hillary were true. >> if you live by conspiracy theories, you are going to die by them. we found that ted cruzs dad helped kill jfk. obamas birth certificate isnt real. sooner or later a conspiracy theory might chase you. i think it would be great if both sides, right and left, reject all of these. conspiracy thinking -- conspiracy thinking are now called fake news. this is from the left, anti-trump. if you reject all of this stuff, that would be good for everybody. >> allow ...