Trump has pushed sinister conspiracy theories on Truth Social at least 330 times

Former President Donald Trump has pushed bizarre and sometimes sinister conspiracy theories at least 330 times on Truth Social within a six-month period this year.

Trump often distributes content several times a day from well-known conspiracy theorists and sometimes anonymous accounts tagging him in their posts. The messages have often been shared by right-wing online extremists and agitators, according to The New York Times.

The 330 messages each outlined a false and mysterious plot against the former president or the American people and named the entity believed to be behind it, such as the FBI who ordered his assassination and claimed that government officials orchestrated the attack on the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

About 75 percent of the posts came directly from Trump’s account, while the rest were reposts from other accounts.

The times also looked at the 170 accounts promoted by Trump and found that the vast majority often spread conspiracy theories.

Trump posted Truth Social an average of 30 times per day over the six-month period, far more than on any other platform.

The former president opened the platform with his first post in 2022 and has since allowed posts and users that other platforms might have deleted with more moderation.

Between July and September, Truth Social averaged about 4.7 million unique visitors per month, according to SimilarWeb, a web analytics company. Many of those users are loyal to Trump, even more so than on other platforms with many more users.

Mainstream supporters mingle with Covid deniers, QAnon followers and right-wing media personalities.

University of Miami political science professor Joseph Uscinski told the newspaper that Trump is “building a coalition of people who only see the world in a very dark way.”

Instead of trying to attract mainstream Republican voters, it appeals to those “who just want the system to be blown up,” he added.

Conspiracies Trump encountered on Truth Social have since found their way into his campaign speeches and other public appearances, where he often speaks of the “enemy within” in reference to Democrats and government officials. He has indicated that he may try to use the army against them.

Speaking about the Capitol riot, in which 140 law enforcement officers were attacked, Trump said at a town hall event this month that it was a day of “love” before sharing a post just two days later claiming the riot was organized by the government.

Trump pushed conspiracy theories to his nearly eight million followers an average of almost twice a day over the six-month period.

He has posted about election interference, philanthropist George Soros, the theft of the 2020 election, the deep state, the replacement theory that Democrats are taking in immigrants to replace Americans, foreign influence, that January 6 is a hoax and that Biden is not in charge , and about Kamala Harris’ deception.

Some of the theories shared focused on agencies the public relies on, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency during Hurricane Helene. Trump posted more than 260 times in the six-month period that the 2024 election will be marred by fraud, such as claiming his criminal cases are the Biden administration’s attempts to interfere in the election.

Senior research manager Max Read of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue told the newspaper that some users of the platform may now accept nothing less than a Trump victory.

“If you live in that reality and get that information about Truth Social, you’re going to trust Trump and only Trump,” he said.