President Donald Trump promoted a bunch of unfounded conspiracy theories throughout a late-night social media posting spree on Monday.
Trump wrote or shared more than 150 posts on his Truth Social platform between 9 p.m. and midnight. Many of them have been unremarkable political fare, however others have been bananas – outlandish conspiratorial tales the president shared along with his eleven-plus million followers despite the fact that they have been indifferent from actuality.
Here is a truth examine of (arguably) the five wildest.
Trump shared a social media post from notorious conspiracy peddler Alex Jones that mentioned, “WILD: Michelle Obama May Have Used Biden’s Autopen in the Final Days of His Disastrous Administration to Pardon Key Individuals, Patrick Byrne Reveals.” Both Trump’s put up and Jones’ put up included a video of Byrne – a businessman who has promoted unfounded conspiracy theories in regards to the 2020 election – claiming in an interview with Jones, “I think there were four or five pardons she gave.”
There isn’t any foundation for this story. A fictional story had beforehand spread among pro-Trump conspiracy theorists on social media that Michelle Obama had snuck into the Oval Office alone throughout the Biden presidency and “grabbed the autopen” to grant pardons; that merely didn’t occur.
Trump shared a social media post by which pro-Trump social media commentator Mila Joy wrote, “Jeffrey Zients, Bidens Chief of Staff, says that even though the paper he is reading SAYS he approved the use of the autopen, that he actually DIDNT APPROVE it. Someone else FORGED HIS APPROVAL!” As supposed proof of a forgery, Mila Joy included a 14-second video clip of Zients testifying earlier than the House Oversight Committee in September about an electronic mail associated to pardons Biden granted on the finish of his presidency.
But the 14-second video unnoticed vital context by which Zients made clear to the committee that the e-mail was not cast.
The video confirmed Zients being requested about an electronic mail that was despatched below his identify on the final night time of Biden’s time period, which mentioned, “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all the following pardons. Thanks, JZ.” It confirmed Zients being requested, “Did you, yourself, write this email?” and Zients responding, “I do not believe I did.”
The video ends there. But the full transcript of Zients’ testimony exhibits that Zients instantly went on to say that he had approved his chief of employees Rosa Po to ship the e-mail.
He mentioned: “Rosa asked me about, if I approve everything, and I said, yes, and then she did what she did on occasion, which was to send the email, because I was at home, and she was there (at the White House), and time was of the essence.”
A key tenet of the QAnon conspiracy motion is that varied Democratic and “deep state” perpetrators of crimes towards kids and the nation shall be arrested below Trump and face justice earlier than army tribunals. On Monday, Trump shared a post from a QAnon-promoting account that mentioned, “When the Director of National Intelligence tells the public, Obama committed TREASON and President Trump is your President, you can 100% know we will see his MILITARY TRIBUNAL.”
We gained’t.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did claim in July that Obama and/or prime officers within the Obama administration engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” by creating an intelligence doc that Gabbard significantly mischaracterized associated to Russia’s interference within the 2016 election. There isn’t any proof Obama did something legal. But even when he had hypothetically dedicated some crime for which he didn’t have presidential immunity, he wouldn’t face a army tribunal; the president is a civilian who shouldn’t be topic to the armed forces’ justice system.
Trump has long used false claims to attempt to blame Democratic former House speaker Nancy Pelosi for the assault on the US Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on January 6, 2021. On Monday, he shared a Mila Joy post that mentioned, “Nancy Pelosi’s former top staffer said Nancy planned January 6th for two years. Lock her up.”
But that’s not what the previous Pelosi staffer, Ashley Etienne, really mentioned.
Mila Joy’s put up and Trump’s put up included a 14-second video of Etienne, Pelosi’s former communications director and senior adviser, saying in an October interview, “We were planning – when I was working for Pelosi, I don’t know that this has ever been made public, or I’ve never said this publicly – but planning for a January 6th-type of an event two years before it happened.”
She mentioned “planning for,” not “planning”; even that sentence alone ought to clarify to reasonable-minded viewers that Etienne was saying Pelosi’s workplace ready upfront to take care of an assault just like the January 6 assault, not saying Pelosi orchestrated the assault. And the full video of Etienne’s feedback consists of context that makes her that means even clearer.
Etienne made the comment about January 6 after saying it’s important for Democrats to anticipate Trump’s strikes forward of time. Etienne praised Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek for getting ready months upfront to handle the president’s try to ship National Guard troops into Portland this yr, and he or she added, “And this is something we did around January 6th. She (Kotek) anticipated that this was going to happen.”
Then Etienne added: “We were planning – when I was working for Pelosi, I don’t know that this has ever been made public, or I’ve never said this publicly – but planning for a January 6th-type of an event two years before it happened. Right? Just understanding the mentality of the president.”
Etienne’s phrases about “understanding the mentality of the president” make it extra-obvious she was attributing the Capitol riot to Trump, to not Pelosi.
No Trump conspiracy-pushing blitz could be full with out some nonsense in regards to the 2020 election he legitimately misplaced to Biden. The president shared a post from a pro-Trump commentator who known as the election “stolen” and who then rattled off a wide range of nonsense about supposed election-rigging by machines – together with a declare that 51%-to-49% margins of victory are “no coincidence” however happen “because that’s the way the programs to steal elections were designed.”
No, they happen as a result of some US elections finish 51% to 49%. There isn’t any foundation for claims that some nefarious know-how is spitting out faux numbers to make US elections look shut; the actual fact is that, in a polarized nation with two main events, they usually are shut.