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This Ross Douthat column is less an answer to the question he poses and more a listing of conspiracy personality types. The actual answer is that Trump taps into a conspiracy politics that moved from the fringe to the heart of GOP politics since Obama. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/opinion/sunday/trump-election-fraud.html?smid=tw-share
The paranoid style was on the fringes of the right, but with Obama do you see it being cultivated by party leaders. But Trump was different from others in recognizing that conspiracy wing of the party was the base that he was willing and able to lead.
Why do so many people believe in the false conspiracy theory that the election was rife with fraud?
It's not that complicated: trusted sources of information from media and GOP that could pour water on these claims are instead encouraging them.
It's not that complicated: trusted sources of information from media and GOP that could pour water on these claims are instead encouraging them.
So Trump supporters believe election fraud conspiracies that Trump is spreading. But its also because they increasingly do not value democracy, and so are willing to go along with an anti-democratic lie that tells them they have a right to remain in power. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/12/republican-party-trump-authoritarian-data/
Not sure its a great look to compare liberal concerns about a "Reichstag fire" to conspiracy theories on the right, when the purpose of Douthat's column is precisely about why so many people are on board with the President's Reichstag fire effort.
This @ThePlumLineGS piece illustrates the bigger point: in her debate, Loeffler normalized unprecedented extralegal attempts by Trump to toss out the election results. For GA GOP voters, both your President & Senator are legitimating conspiracy theories. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/07/kelly-loeffler-disqualified-herself-sunday-nights-debate/
