Donald Trump and His Sons Spent the Weekend Sharing Dangerous Conspiracy Theories

From Esquire

Nearly 90,000 Americans have died and 36 million are out of work as the coronavirus pandemic's toll continues to rise. Much of this pain was unavoidable. At nearly every level, elected leaders from both parties have failed to respond adequately to the virus and the severe economic fallout. But it's the federal response, led by President Trump, that is the most inept.

The president could have responded swiftly instead of spending weeks downplaying the threat. He could have heeded the pandemic response plans that were in place for more than 10 years. But he did none of these things, and now researchers are saying that around 90 percent of the deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented with a swifter response to the outbreak. And with polls showing that Americans hold a largely unfavorable view of Trump's pandemic response, it appears the inhabitants of Trumpworld have decided to strike back—launching an all-out disinformation campaign.

On Saturday, Eric Trump appeared on Fox News and promoted his dad's claim from February that concerns over the coronavirus outbreak are a Democratic hoax. "They'll milk it every single day between now and November 3, and guess what, after November 3, coronavirus will magically, all of a sudden, go away and disappear, and everybody will be about 'reopen,'" he told Jeanine Pirro, referring to the Biden campaign.

"They're trying to deprive [the president] of his greatest asset," he continued, "the fact that he can go out there and draw massive crowds."

The idea that the epidemic that's caused such profound tragedy is just a devious scheme to stop Trump from rallying the base at Bojangles' Coliseum isn't just a remarkably toxic conspiracy theory, it's one that poses a clear risk to the lives of anyone who swallows Eric Trump's bait, and everyone else in their communities.

His older brother got in on the act, too. On Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. posted a meme that leveled the baseless suggestion that Joe Biden is a pedophile. He tweeted that he was just "joking around," but then continued to send social media missives about Biden's "gross habit of touching and sniffing young girls." Biden has been accused of unwanted touching by seven women and of sexual assault by another, all of whom were legal adults. But if Don Jr. was sincerely concerned about Biden's conduct, he wouldn't be "joking around" about it or amplifying crass memes. And if he cared about sexual abuse at all, he wouldn't be stumping for someone who has been accused of sexually assaulting 16 women.

Meanwhile, Trump himself maintained his usual Twitter stream of untruths and conspiracy theories. On Saturday, he simply tweeted the word "OBAMAGATE," to remind us all of his current vaguely-defined and utterly fabricated pet theory that former president Barack Obama made some sort of criminal effort to undermine his presidency.

Politico's Jack Shafer theorized that as Trump's "supporters and critics have grown numb to his previous rhetorical excesses," the president feels a need to "cross new boundaries, violate new taboos, and break fresh panes of glass" to keep his audience engaged. And if that's the case, his kids have definitely gotten the memo.

There's also the polling, which shows him now trailing Biden with voters. Trump's well aware that his base loves him because of his crude and outrageous behavior, not despite it. He's never been able to offer them anything of substance, and now, when substantive governance is needed more than ever, he's upping the antics.

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