NPR: A Conspiracy A Month?
Trump Calls For 2 Investigations — With No Evidence
1. ) 3 million to 5 million people illegally voted in November
2.) Trump's feud with the intelligence community
Early Saturday morning, President Trump launched into one of his favorite pastimes — tweeting allegations with no evidence to back them up.
His latest unfounded claims: an assertion that President Barack Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower during last year's elections. He accused his predecessor of "McCarthyism" and being a "bad (or sick) guy."
The explosive allegations seem to have originated on conservative talk radio and were then promulgated by the right-wing Breitbart News, which Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon previously led. The site, which has ties to the alt-right movement, frequently peddles conspiracy theories. The White House, through Tuesday's press briefing, has still offered no proof for the allegation.
This isn't the first time Trump has blasted out such uncorroborated claims on Twitter, in national interviews and elsewhere — and gone on to ask for an investigation into them. It's not even the first of his 6 1/2-week presidency. (Remember those 3 million to 5 million he said he believes voted illegally, costing him the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton? She just so happened to beat him in that count by about 3 million votes. Trump has asked Vice President Pence to take it up. More on that below.)
A slew of "alternative facts" — in the words of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway — have been perpetuated by the Trump administration since taking office. It's par for the course for the reality TV star, who rose to political prominence after questioning whether Obama was born in the U.S.
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