Trump Promotes Baseless, QAnon-Endorsed Conspiracy Theory Alleging Obama Staged Bin Laden’s Killing
Topline
President Trump promoted a baseless conspiracy theory on Tuesday alleging that the Obama Administration covered up a plot to stage Osama bin Laden’s death, a wild accusation that was pushed by Twitter accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory.
An unmasked Donald Trump holds a MAGA rally at Orlando Sanford International Airport in Sanford, … [+]
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
On Tuesday afternoon, Trump retweeted an article from an account with a history of promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory alleging “Biden and Obama may have had Seal Team 6 killed” and that Bin Laden may still be alive.
The conspiracy theory also alleged that Obama had killed Bin Laden’s body double.
The tweet linked to an article written by an author, Kari Donovan, who identifies as an “ex-Community Organizer” who is now “a Homeschool Mom in North Carolina” while the QAnon account who pushed the link, “Oscar the Midnight Rider 1111,” appears to have been banned from Twitter after Trump retweeted the message (the tweet is missing from Trump’s account and clicking on the user returns a message of “This Tweet is from a suspended account.”)
Late Tuesday night, Trump retweeted about the conspiracy theory again, sharing a tweet from a separate QAnon-linked account linking to a video in which Nick Noe, identified by the Daily Beast as a “conservative personality” and “father of a former Navy SEAL who died in Benghazi,” claims Hillary Clinton and Biden colluded with Iran to arrange for Bin Laden to be transferred to Pakistan for “Obama’s trophy kill . . . right before his reelection.”
As of Wednesday morning, the tweet was still active on Twitter, racking up nearly 13,000 retweets and 24,000 “likes.”
Chief Critic
The Biden campaign hit back at Trump for promoting the conspiracy theory, calling the president “seriously unhinged.”
Key Background
According to the Daily Beast, the most recent Bin Laden conspiracy theory originated from Alan Howell Parrot, a “falconer who says he uncovered secrets about al-Qaeda, Iran, and U.S. intelligence in his work as a falconer for Middle Eastern power players.”
Crucial Quote
Donovan, the blogger who posted the article Trump retweeted, said on Twitter she has “no proof that the Whistleblower’s claim are true.”
Surprising Fact
Robert O’Neill, a former Navy Seal who claims to be the one who actually shot and killed Bin Laden, lashed out at the president on Twitter for pushing the conspiracy theory. “It was not a body double,” O’Neill says.
Further Reading
Trump Touts Falconer’s Benghazi Blood-Sacrifice Conspiracy Theory (The Daily Beast)
Navy SEAL Attacks Trump for Tweeting QAnon bin Laden Body Double Conspiracy: ‘I Know Who I Killed’ (Newsweek)
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