A Conspiracy Theory To Beat Most Conspiracy Theories

 

Why is this man laughing?

When it comes to conspiracy theories, no one can beat a Trumpist for creativity. Here's a doozy of a Trumpist conspiracy theory about the supposed string-pulling by "RINO" forces ("Republicans In Name Only"), supposedly orchestrated by operatives tied to Sen. Thom Tillis and newly announced Senate candidate Pat McCrory to accomplish the following:

a. Scuttle the chances of Senate candidate Mark Walker, "a true conservative."

b. Enable that squish Pat McCrory to come up the middle and take the Republican Senate primary next spring with less than 40% of the vote.

c. Set up Congressman Ted Budd to take the nomination for governor in 2024 away from Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who's already become an embarrassment to RINOs and is clearly beyond anyone's rational control.

I'm indebted to Jeffrey Billman for unpacking the supposed conspiracy and for poking holes in its underlying assumptions.

But I'm mainly transfixed by the florid imagination that constructed the supposed conspiracy. Trumpists have reached end-stage paranoia about a world that is always eluding their grasp, from a stolen election ("the fraud was massive, I'm telling ya!") to imagining how their newest mortal enemies -- nominal Republicans exhibiting disloyalty to Trump -- can thwart their God-ordained rise to global domination.

I look for a Republican Senate primary in North Carolina with plenty of splashed acid and midnight shivs.