Conspiracy Theories Linger for a Long Time

Brian Stelter: “Here’s the thing about conspiracy theories. People liken them to fires — you’ll hear folks saying that MAGA media is ‘fanning the flames’ of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal — but that’s not quite right. Fires can be extinguished. Conspiracy theories are more like nuclear fallout. You can try to decontaminate the area, try to minimize exposure, but the radioactivity lingers for decades. It doesn’t go away.”

“And so it goes with the Epstein obsession among Trump’s media allies. While Fox News has taken his plea seriously to stop talking about the dead sex offender, many other MAGA media sources are pressing on, recognizing that the audiences they’ve built on conspiratorial thinking are simply demanding more, more, more.”