Political conspiracy theories have always been a thing, dating as far back as politics and government began. It seems like over the last few years, at least in America, political conspiracy theories have crawled out from the dark corners of the internet and went from whispered jokes between friends to mainstream media. We’ve all heard of the UFO sightings, aliens being hidden by the government, who really assassinated John F. Kennedy and so on. As for myself, I never take conspiracy theories too seriously, but I do love learning about them.
The conspiracy theories surrounding climate change and clean energy are truly baffling, especially considering that there is so much verified and worldwide data out there that points to climate change being very dangerously real. There are a few different takes on conspiracy theories about climate change. One claims that liberal extremists are using climate change to scare people into surrendering to a socialist government. Another claims that powerful people with ties to the government have invested too much in green energy to admit climate change is fake.
However, perhaps the most mainstream theory today is that climate change is a lie spread by China to make more money. This conspiracy theory was perpetrated by former president Donald Trump, and then by all of his followers. In 2012, he claimed that climate change was created by China to make manufacturing non-competitive with the U.S. In 2016, he referenced this theory again, claiming that wind turbines made in China and sent to America gave people cancer and that China was further benefiting financially from the climate change hoax.
There are two prominent conspiracy theories surrounding Ted Cruz, and I honestly couldn’t pick a favorite. The first is a less widely talked about theory that was seemingly first started during the election cycle in 2016 by Donald Trump. This theory claims that Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Trump claimed that he had a photo of Cruz’s father and Lee Harvey Oswald hugging and continued to question Cruz’s father’s whereabouts during the assassination. There is little to no evidence that these claims are true, but some hardcore Trump supporters are still wary of Cruz to this day.
The second conspiracy theory about Ted Cruz is that he is the Zodiac Killer. This conspiracy theory started as an internet meme in early 2016, supposedly in response to Cruz’s views on abortion, but quickly gained traction. People actually began coming up with self-proclaimed proof that this theory was true. While Cruz does somewhat resemble the rough sketch made of the Zodiac Killer, the rest of the proof out on the internet — and believe me, there is a lot of it — is probably made up. According to his birth certificate, which some claim is faked, Cruz wasn’t even born before the first two murders of the zodiac killings. However, a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling in 2016 found that 38% of Florida voters believed that Ted Cruz could be the Zodiac Killer, 10% totally believed that he is the Zodiac Killer and another 28% could not be sure. While this conspiracy theory definitely hurt his campaign, it was pretty amusing to see people trying to explain how toddler Ted Cruz murdered two people.
The truth is, conspiracy theories are often far-reaching guesses on horrific or stressful events that people do not wish to come to terms with. Political conspiracy theories may be funny to those of us who don’t always buy into them, but in actuality, they can be extremely hurtful. Conspiracy theories are why people may not be wearing masks, practicing good social protocol during the pandemic, and even storming the U.S. Capitol building in a lowly attempt for a coup. While some conspiracy theories are good for a laugh, it’s important to do credible research and not believe everything you read on the internet.
